Voting underway for bypolls to 3 Lok Sabha, 33 Assembly seats in 10 states; all eyes on UP and Gujarat

Voting underway for bypolls to 3 Lok Sabha, 33 Assembly seats in 10 states; all eyes on UP

Voting began Saturday for byelections to 3 Lok Sabha and 33 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 states in an exercise seen as yet another major test of Narendra Modi government's popularity since it assumed power in May.

The three Lok Sabha bypolls are in Vadodara (Gujarat), Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) and Medak (Telangana) while 11 Assembly constituencies are in UP, nine in Gujarat, four in Rajasthan, two in West Bengal, five in Northeastern states and one each in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Counting of votes is scheduled for September 16.

Polling under way in Gujarat : 7.01%

Ahmedabad : According to the Election Commission, 7.01% people cast their franchise till 9 AM. Vadodara Lok Sabha seat, where by-election was necessitated as Prime Minister Narendra Modi vacated the seat after winning with huge margin, witnessed 5.76% voters turn out till 9 AM.

Balloting for one Lok Sabha and nine assembly by-polls began Saturday. The Vadodara Lok Sabha seat was vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he was elected to the parliament from two places, including Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Gujarat's new Chief Minister Anandiben Patel will face her first major political test in these elections.

The nine assembly seats where elections are to be held are Deesa, Maninagar (vacated by Modi), Tankara, Khambhalia, Mangrol, Talaja, Anand, Matar and Limkheda. The last seat is reserved for tribals. The nine seats were given up by BJP legislators after they were elected to the Lok Sabha.

Brisk voting in UP bypolls, stakes high for BJP, SP 

Lucknow: Voting began on a brisk note Saturday in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls to the 11 assembly and one parliamentary seat. While balloting was slow owing to a drizzle in the Lucknow (East) constituency, long lines of voters were seen outside polling stations in Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha, Rohania, Nighasan, Saharanpur city, Bijnore, Thakurdwara, Noida, and Hamirpur.

Voting is being held under tight security in Mainpuri, the lone Lok Sabha constituency that went to polls Saturday.  Mainpuri with 1,647,176 voters is crucial for the Samajwadi Party (SP) as the seat has been held by the party for over two decades.  Voting in the biggest assembly segment in terms of voters in the bypolls - Noida (523,762) and the smallest Thakurdwara (329,438) - was also under way peacefully.

For the Samajwadi Party, the polls are an opportunity to make a comeback, after its disastrous showing in the Lok Sabha battle where its numbers dipped from 22 to five.  The Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency was vacated by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, a grandnephew of Mulayam Singh, while the BJP has fielded Prem Singh Shakya. The Bahujan Samaj Party has this time decided not to contest.

Polling under way in Telangana's Medak Lok Sabha seat: 30%

Hyderabad: 30% polling till noon in Telangana, Andhra

Over 30 percent polling was reported till noon in Medak parliamentary constituency in Telangana where by-election is being held on Saturday.

Polling is under way for by-election to the Medak Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana and Nandigama assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh. Election officials said the polling began in both the constituencies amid tight security at 7 a.m. Voters will be allowed to cast their votes till 6 p.m.  Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at few places developed snag, resulting in the delay in start of the polling process. The officials replaced the faulty EVMs. Over 15.43 lakh voters are eligible to cast their franchise in the prestigious Medak parliamentary constituency, where poll authorities have set up 1,817 polling centres.
A total of 14 candidates are in fray in Medak but it is mainly a triangular contest. K. Prabhakar Reddy of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) may have a smooth sailing. He is pitted against BJP-TDP combine's Jagga Reddy and Congress party's Sunitha Lakhsma Reddy.

Polling also began in Nandigama assembly constituency in Krishna district of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Over 1.84 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes at 200 polling centres. Four candidates are in fray in Nandigama, a seat reserved for scheduled castes. The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has fielded Tangirala Soumya, daughter of Tangirala Prabhakar Rao, whose death caused the vacancy. Soumya is locked in a direct fight against B. Babu Rao of Congress party. The two other candidates are independents.

Balloting starts in Chhattisgarh assembly seat: 18%

Raipur:

Around 18% of the 1.51 lakh electorate cast its vote in the initial few hours, officials said, adding the polling was peaceful. The polling for the Schedule Tribe constituency started at 7 am in 202 polling stations and will be on till 3 pm.

The Antagarh assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh went to polls from 7 a.m. Saturday. Only two candidates are in fray after as many as 10 candidates withdrew their nominations in one hour Aug 30.  There are nearly 1.51 lakh eligible voters in this constituency and they get to cast their votes in 202 polling stations. The election was necessitated as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Vikram Usendi resigned after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanker. Chhattisgarh has always witnessed a bipolar contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress. However, the Antagarh by-poll will be an exception.

Balloting begins in two Bengal seats: 9.07 %

Kolkata: "9.07 percent polling was reported from Chowringhee and 20.5 percent from Basirhat (South) till 9 am," an Election Commission official told IANS.

Voting for the Chowringhee and Basirhat (South) assembly constituencies in West Bengal began at 7 a.m. Saturday. Chowringhee in Kolkata was won by Trinamool's Sikha Mitra in 2011 assembly polls, where the party fought jointly with the Congress.  The 200,256 electors spread across 222 polling stations have to choose from nine candidates - Trinamool's Nayna Bandyopadhyay, BJP's Ritesh Tiwari, Congress' Santosh K. Pathak, CPI-M's Faiyaz Ahmad Khan and five independents. 

The Basirhat (South) constituency is a seat newly carved out in 2011. Nearly 235,843 people are eligible to vote in 286 polling stations.  The BJP has made infiltration from across the Bangladesh border a major issue in this constituency. After two of its leaders were put behind bars in the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scandal, the ruling Trinamool Congress has come under under fire from its political rivals.

Polling begins for four Rajasthan assembly seats: 14.80 %

Jaipur:

"The polling has been peaceful so far and is expected to pick up in the afternoon. As per tentative information, over 14.80 % of voters had cast their votes till 9.30 a.m.," an election department official told IANS.

Polling began Saturday in four Rajasthan assembly constituencies. As many as 8.95 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes at 961 polling stations in Nasirabad, Weir, Surajgarh and Kota South. A total of 23 candidates are in the fray, with maximum of nine candidates contesting from Surajgarh and the minimum of three from Weir. 

The by-elections were necessitated as BJP legislators Sanwar Lal Jat from Nasirabad, Bahadur Singh Koli from Weir, Santosh Ahlawat from Surajgarh and Om Birla from Kota South got elected to the Lok Sabha. The main fight is between the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  The counting of votes will take place Sep 16.

Polling starts in Assam

Guwahati: Ballotting began Saturday for by-elections in Assam’s three assembly constituencies - Silchar, Lakhipur and Jamunamukh, officials said.By-election for Silchar was necessitated after Congress legislator Sushmita Dev’s election to the Lok Sabha. The Lakhipur seat fell vacant after the death of sitting legislator and former minister Dinesh Prasad Goala, while the Jamunamukh seat was vacated by AIUDF leader Sirajuddin Ajmal after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Barpeta.
As many as 25 candidates are in the fray - 12 are contesting in Silchar, five in Lakhipur and eight in Jamunamukh. Over five lakh electors, including more than two lakh women, will be able to exercise their democratic right at 588 polling stations.

Voting starts for Sikkim assembly seat

Gangtok: Balloting began Saturday in the by-polls for the Rangang-Yangang assembly constituency in Sikkim, officials said. The by-poll was necessitated after Chief Minister Pawan Chamling resigned from the seat and retained Namchi-Singhithang after the April assembly polls.

While the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) contestant is a 32-year-old woman, Kumari Manger, the Bharatiya Janata Party has nominated 26-year-old Bikash Basnet. Basnet had contested in the April polls on a Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) ticket but lost by over 3,000 votes. The SKM is not in the fray this time, and is lending support to the BJP.

Bishnu Prasad Adhikari of the Congress and Rup Narayan Chamling, chief minister Chamling's brother and an independent candidate are also contesting. There are over 11,700 electors, who will vote in 14 polling stations in three sectors.

Peaceful ballotting in Tripura assembly by-poll

Agartala: Voting for the by-election to the Manu assembly seat in southern Tripura began Saturday morning on a peaceful note with a quarter of the votes being cast in the first two hours, an official said. Voters were seen queuing up to exercise their franchise in most of the 46 polling stations after the balloting started at 7 a.m., election officials said, adding that there was no reports of any untoward incident so far. "Polling is under way in 46 polling stations in 38 locations. Central paramilitary forces and Tripura State Rifles troopers have been deployed adequately to hold the by-poll smoothly," poll Returning Officer Rajib Datta told IANS over phone from Sabroom, 135 km south of here.

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