New Delhi: As many as 31 constituencies spread across 10 states voted today in Assembly by-polls. Voting was also held for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency by-poll in Kerala.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut from Wayanad, the Lok Sabha seat vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Raebareli parliamentary seat in Uttar Pradesh and retained it.
As per the Election Commission data, an approximate voter turnout of 62.41 per cent was recorded in Wayanad.
The assembly by-elections took place in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two in Madhya Pradesh, and one each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Meghalaya. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.
Although they will have no impact on the government formation, the by-polls are seen as a litmus test for Congress and its INDIA bloc, particularly after the loss in the Haryana Assembly Polls and poor performance in the maiden assembly polls to the Jammu and Kashmir Union territory.
Polling was also scheduled for two seats in Sikkim, but Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) candidates Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai were declared victorious unopposed following the withdrawal of nominations by other candidates.
Constituency-wise Assembly By-poll Turnout
| STATE/UT | AC Name and Number | Voter Turnout (in %) |
| ASSAM (5) | Behali-77 Sidli-31 Samaguri-88 Bongaigaon-32 Dholai-11 | 73.70 71.50 78.10 72.00 72.40 |
| BIHAR (4) | Ramgarh-203 Imamganj-227 Tarari-196 Belagnaj-232 | 52.40 51.38 50.20 56.02 |
| CHHATTISGARH (1) | Raipur City South-51 | 46.43 |
| GUJARAT (1) | Vav | 68.01 |
| KARNATAKA (3) | Channapatna-185 Shiggaon-83 Sandur-95 | 88.80 75.07 76.24 |
| KERALA (1) | Chelakkara-61 | 69.39 |
| MADHYA PRADESH (2) | Vijaypur-2 Budhni-156 | 77.42 75.05 |
| MEGHALAYA (1) | Gambegre-56 | 80.91 |
| RAJASTHAN (7) | Salumber-156 Jhunjhunu-27 Deoli-Uniara-97 Chorasi-161 Ramgarh-67 Khinwsar-110 Dausa-88 | 67.01 65.80 60.61 68.55 75.27 71.04 55.63 |
| WEST BENGAL (6) | Madarihat-14 Medinipur-236 Naihati-104 Talgandra-251 Sitai-6 Haroa-121 | 64.14 71.85 62.10 75.20 66.35 73.95 |
CONSTITUENCIES AND CANDIDATES IN THE FRAY
Kerala
From Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi is facing a direct fight with Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) Sathyan Mokeri and BJP’s Navya Haridas. There are also 13 others vying for the seat. Priyanka is facing a litmus test on this constituency, for she has to maintain the victory as it is a Congress stronghold, won by senior Congress leader and her brother Rahul Gandhi in the last two elections. The other seat which went to by-polls in Kerala was Chelakkara in Thrissur district.
Rajasthan
By-elections were held in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar, and Ramgarh. The by-polls were called in Salumbar and Ramgarh owing to the deaths of incumbent MLAs Amritlal Meena (BJP) and Zubair Khan (Congress), respectively.
West Bengal
The by-polls were held in Sitai, Madarihat, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, and Taldangra assembly constituencies in West Bengal. Five of these seats are in the TMC strongholds of south Bengal, while Madarihat remains a BJP bastion in the northern part of the state. The polling was scheduled in all six seats after the sitting legislators contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and won.
Assam
By-elections were being held in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri assembly constituencies as these seats fell vacant with the representatives of them winning the recent Lok Sabha elections.
For the by-poll in Samaguri, the Congress named Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain's son Tanzil as its candidate against Diplu Ranjan Sarma of the BJP. Jayanta Borah, who joined Congress after being named as its candidate for the Behali seat, is likely to have a direct fight with his earlier party, BJP.
The saffron party nominated Diganta Ghatowal from the constituency. Apart from Borah and Ghatowal, Lakhikanta Kurmi from CPI(ML) Liberation as a united opposition candidate and Ananta Gogoi from AAP are also in the fray in Behali. Diptimayee Choudhury in Bongaigaon was nominated by the saffron party's ally, Asom Gana Parishad. She is the wife of AGP MP Phani Bhusan Choudhury, who represented Bongaigaon for eight consecutive terms since 1985 before stepping inside Parliament for the first time earlier this year. Choudhury is locked in a direct contest with Brajenjit Singha of the Congress, which is aiming to snatch the seat from AGP.
Bihar
By-polls were held for four Bihar assembly seats: Tarari, Imamganj, Belaganj, and Ramgarh. All four assembly seats had fallen vacant after MLAs representing them were elected in the last Lok Sabha election. The NDA, led by the BJP, which is contesting Tarari and Ramgarh seats, is putting up a stiff fight, realising that it must maintain the tempo given the next year's elections. However, the pitch has been queered for both the ruling and the opposition coalitions with the entry of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, which is contesting all four seats.
In Imamganj, a reserved seat, where the by-poll was necessitated by the election to Lok Sabha from Gaya of Jitan Ram Manjhi, a Union minister and founder of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, the party has fielded Deepa, wife of his son Santosh Suman, who is also a minister in the state's Nitish Kumar government.
In neighbouring Belaganj, Vishwanath Kumar Singh is making his debut on an RJD ticket, hoping to retain the seat his father, Surendra Prasad Yadav, had won many times on the trot before getting elected to Lok Sabha from Jehanabad.
The main challenge in the seat has come from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), which has fielded former MLC Manorama Devi. Jan Suraaj has fielded local social activist Mohd Amjad in a clear bid to upset the apple cart for the two established parties, both of which vie for the votes of the minorities.
Karnataka
Polling was held in Karnataka's key seats—Channapatna, Shiggaon, and Sandur—where the by-elections were necessitated after three seats were left open as JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, ex-CM Basavaraj Bommai, and Congress’s E Tukaram were elected to the Lok Sabha. JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy contested from Channapatna, a seat vacated by his father and Union minister Kumaraswamy after being elected to Lok Sabha.
The BJP has fielded former Karnataka CM B Bommai’s son, Bharath Bommai, from Shiggaon. He faced Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan. Bypolls will also be held in Sandur in the state.
Madhya Pradesh
Voting took place in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly constituencies of Budhni and Vijaypur. After former Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP and was appointed a minister in the Mohan Yadav Cabinet, a by-election to the Vijaypur seat in the Sheopur district was required.
The by-poll to Budhni seat was held since MLA and former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha and is now Union Agriculture Minister. The counting of votes for by-polls in all the states across the country is scheduled for November 23. (With inputs from agencies)
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