Assembly bypolls: Voting concludes in 7 constituencies across 6 states | Updates

A voter turnout of 42.55 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies in Bihar where polling was underway for by-elections on Thursday, officials said. While Mokama recorded 42.44 per cent voter turnout, Gopalganj saw 42.65 per cent turnout till 3 pm, they said.

The bypolls to the two seats are the first election in the state after the formation of the 'Mahagthabandhan' government around three months back. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the de-facto leader of the JD(U), dumped the BJP and formed a new coalition government with the RJD, Congress and Left parties in early August. The polling began at 7 am, and will continue till 6 pm, election officials said.

Mumbai, Nov 3 (PTI) A voter turnout of 16.89 per cent was recorded in the Andheri East Assembly byelection in Mumbai till 1 pm on Thursday, an official said. Polling for the byelection, which started at 7 am, will continue till 6 pm. The process is underway at 256 polling booths in the constituency.

"Till 1 pm, 16.89 per cent voters cast their votes," returning officer Prashant Patil told reporters. This is the first Assembly election in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-helmed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June this year following a revolt by Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.

A total 38.75 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the Dhamnagar assembly by-poll till 1 pm on Thursday, an Election Commission official said.

Despite the strict security for the day, there were reports of clashes between BJD and BJP workers in polling booths 169 and 170 at Rameswarpur in the constituency while voting was on and two persons were injured. The local police said the clash occurred when workers of one party tried to put up posters inside the prohibited 100 m distance from the polling booth and were resisted by supporters of the other party.

A case was registered at the local police station on the basis of allegations of the two sides and the injured were taken to a nearby hospital, the police said. The EC official said voting is underway in all the 252 polling stations of the constituencies, of which 110 booths have been declared sensitive. There will be webcasting in 126 booths

Over 25 per cent polling was reported till 11 AM in the by-poll to the Munugode Assembly constituency in Telangana on Thursday. The polling had been peaceful with no major law and order issue being reported. Officials rectified technical issues in EVMs at a couple of places.

Congress candidate Palvai Sravanthi complained to election authorities that false news was being spread about her on social media with a morphed photo. State Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj said the Congress candidate's complaint will be looked into.
BJP candidate Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy alleged that the TRS government has been misusing official machinery in the constituency.

A voter turnout of 24.17 per cent was recorded till 11 am in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies in Bihar where polling was underway for by-elections on Thursday, officials said.

While Mokama recorded 27.30 per cent voter turnout, Gopalganj saw 21.76 per cent turnout till 11 am, they said. Long queues were seen outside many booths as people turned up early to exercise their franchise, officials said.

The bypolls to the two seats are the first election in the state after the formation of the 'Mahagthabandhan' government around three months back. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the de-facto leader of the JD(U), dumped the BJP and formed a new coalition government with the RJD, Congress and Left parties in early August.

An average 10.25 per cent votes cast in the first two hours of polling in Odisha's Dhamnagar assembly constituency, where the by-election exercise began at 7 am on Thursday, an EC official said.

Long queues were seen in front of the polling stations even before voting started.

The voting process, which is being held under tight security, will continue till 6 PM.

An average voter turnout of over 10 per cent has been recorded in the first two hours of polling in Gola Gokaran Nath constituency of Uttar Pradesh where bypolls are underway on Thursday.

"The polling is going on peacefully. In the initial two hours, over 10 per cent votes were polled", a senior official said.

Over 3.90 lakh voters are eligible to decide the fate of seven contestants in the fray.

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay staged a protest demanding that non-locals and TRS leaders should be sent out of the Munugodu constituency, where the bypolls are being conducted today.

Sanjay, who was on the way to Munugode as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders were not leaving the by-polls constituency in Munugodu, was stopped by the police on the Vijaywada Highway in Abdullapurmet on Wednesday night.

Initially, police stopped Bandi Sanjay's convoy at Malakpet then at Vanasthalipuram and finally, he was shifted to Abdullapurmet Police Station.

• The BJD has fielded Abanti Das, the lone woman among the total five candidates in Dhamnagar
• BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi’s death necessitated the bypoll
• The BJP and the ruling TRS had been campaigning aggressively in Munugode in Telangana, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on the saffron party's ticket
• The saffron party, banking on sympathy votes, has fielded Sethi's son Suryabanshi Suraj
• The BJD's official candidate is facing a rebel as its former MLA Rajendra Das is in the fray as an Independent 

• The Gola Gorakhnath seat in Uttar Pradesh fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6
• With the BSP and the Congress keeping away from the bypolls, there seems to be a direct fight between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party
• The BJP has fielded Aman Giri, son of Arvind Giri, while the SP candidate is former Gola MLA Vinay Tiwari

• Shiv Sena's Rutuja Latke is expected to comfortably win Andheri East Assembly constituency in Mumbai after the BJP withdrew from the contest which is the first after the recent split in the Shiv Sena following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who replaced Thackeray as the Maharashtra chief minister
• The NCP and Congress have supported her candidature
• The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Rutuja Latke's husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May this year

Bihar will see the first electoral test for the Nitish Kumar-led 'Mahagathbandhan' government, formed less than three months ago after the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP.

Bypolls are being held in Mokama and Gopalganj seats in Bihar, earlier held by the RJD and the BJP respectively.

Mokama constituency

• The BJP is contesting from the Mokama constituency for the first time as the saffron party had, on previous occasions, left the seat to its allies. Both the BJP and the RJD have fielded the wives of local musclemen in the bypolls
• BJP nominee Sonam Devi is up against RJD's Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification has necessitated the by-election
• Mokama is the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appealed to voters to support him
• Sonam Devi, the wife of local muscleman Lalan Singh who has been opposed to Anant Singh, is a greenhorn
• Lalan is known to be a confidant of Suraj Bhan Singh, a dreaded gangster-turned-politician, who in the 2000 assembly election defeated Anant Singh's elder brother Dilip Singh who was a minister in the Rabri Devi government

Gopalganj constituency

• In Gopalganj, BJP has fielded Kusum Devi, the wife of deceased party MLA Subhash Singh
• The RJD has fielded Mohan Gupta, while Indira Yadav, wife of Lalu Yadav’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav, is contesting as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate

• In Adampur, Haryana, the by-election was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal's younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi's son Bhavya is now contesting as the BJP candidate
• The Adampur seat has been held by the Bhajan Lal family since 1968, with the late ex-chief minister representing it on nine occasions, his wife Jasma Devi once, and Kuldeep on four occasions
• The Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and Aam Aadmi Party are among the key parties contesting the bypolls
• The Congress has fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash, a three-time MP from Hisar and two-time MLA, as well
• The INLD picked Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. The AAP has fielded Satender Singh, who switched over from the BJP

The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for polling, including the deployment of 3,366 state police and 15 companies of central security personnel in Munugode. Webcasting would be done from all the polling stations.

The polling will be held today from 7 am to 6 pm. 

The counting of votes will take place on November 6.

The polling is being held in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies of Bihar, Andheri (East) of Maharashtra, Adampur of Haryana, Munugode of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh, and Dhamnagar of Odisha.

Voting began on Thursday in the by-election to seven assembly constituencies in six states - a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the BJP and regional parties.