low to brisk turnout was recorded in the by-elections for three lok Sabha and 33 Assembly seats spread across 10 States on Saturday. While 50 per cent polling was reported from UP, where the prestige of the BJP and the Samajwadi Party is at stake, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana together recorded over 65 per cent turnout.
Nearly 70 per cent electorate exercised their franchise in Assam even as moderate to high polling was witnessed in the two seats in West Bengal amid sporadic incidents of violence. The counting of votes will be held on Tuesday. In Chhattisgarh, counting will be on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose flood-hit Vadodara constituency vacated by him also went to polls, in a tweet message urged voters to turn up at polling stations in large numbers. However, the turnout remained low at 43 per cent.
The ruling BJP at the Centre has high stakes in UP, where 11 Assembly and one lok Sabha constituencies went to polls. The BJP wants to retain its dominance after the party won a whopping 71 out of 80 seats in the lok Sabha elections in May. Polling also took place for Assembly seats in Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tripura.
Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh has become a battle of prestige for SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who vacated the seat and retained Azamgarh. Mulayam’s grand-nephew Tej Pratap Yadav, a leeds University graduate, has debuted as the party’s candidate.
Around 53.2 per cent votes were polled in Mainpuri lok Sabha seat, where Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his MP wife Dimple Yadav cast their votes, while 49.78 per cent votes were polled in 11 Assembly seats, an official statement said. About 50 per cent polling was registered in Rohaniya Assembly seat, which falls under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi.
Among the Assembly constituencies, Thakurdwara in Moradabad and Nighasan in lakhimpur witnessed brisk polling with 65 and 60 per cent turnout respectively, but it was tardy in Noida where only 31 per cent votes were polled followed by 32 per cent for lucknow East.
The Assembly seats where bypolls were also held include Saharanpur city, Bijnor, lucknow east, Hamirpur, Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha and Rohania.
While the BSP is not contesting the bypoll, the Congress and the SP fielded candidates on all 11 Assembly seats, whereas the BJP is contesting on 10 and its ally Apna Dal on one seat. The BJP and Apna Dal MlAs have made it to the lok Sabha necessitating the polls.
Bypolls were also held in the Medak lok Sabha seat vacated by TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao after he became the first Chief Minister of Telangana. Over 65 per cent polling was reported in the by-elections in both Medak and the Nandigama (SC) Assembly seats.
A total of 66.30 per cent electorate cast their votes in bypolls to four Assembly seats in Rajasthan. Twenty-three candidates, including four each from ruling the BJP and Opposition Congress, are in fray in Nasirabad (Ajmer), Weir (Bharatpur), Surajgarh (Jhunjhunu) and Kota South constituencies where 950 polling stations were set up. The bypolls were necessitated after the sitting MlA resigned from the Assembly following their election to the lok Sabha.
Two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal went to polls amid complaints of sporadic violence between the workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Opposition left and the BJP. State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sunil Gupta said that the polling percentage at Basirhat Dakshin constituency was 79.59 per cent and just 47.13 per cent at Chowringhee.
Nearly 70 per cent polling was recorded in the peaceful by-election for three seats of Assam Assembly to decide the fate of 25 contestants in Silchar, lakhipur and Jamunamukh. Jamunamukh in Nagaon district witnessed over 74 per cent polling, while Silchar and lakhipur in Cachar district saw 63 per cent and 66 per cent voting respectively, Election Commission officials said.
Bypolls in Gujarat remained lackluster in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as voters’ turnout was less than 50 per cent. The destiny of as many as 45 candidates for nine Assembly segments and four for Vadodara lok Sabha constituency, who are in the fray, have been sealed.
Two previous constituencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi registered a low turnout. Voters in Maninagar Assembly seat, from where Modi won three consecutive elections in 2002, 2007 and 2012, responded poorly at only 33.05 per cent voting. The same was the case with flood-hit Vadodara lok Sabha constituency, where the turnout was around 43 per cent.
limkheda Assembly constituency, which falls under the tribal district of Dahod, witnessed highest turnout of 58.23 per cent.
In Chhattisgarh’s Naxal-affected Kanker district, around 50 per cent electorate turned out for the by-election to Antagarh Assembly constituency. “49.86 per cent polling was recorded in this seat, reserved for tribals,” Joint Chief Electoral Officer DD Singh said. Around 77 per cent of the voters had exercised the franchise in the constituency during last year’s Assembly elections.
Bye-election for Manu (ST) assembly seat in Tripura passed off peacefully with record heavy turnout of 87 percent. Joint Chief Electoral Officer (JCEO) Debasish Modak said: “Though the exact figure is yet to be available, roughly over 87 per cent voters exercised their franchise peacefully.”