Hyderabad: The Assembly by-elections in seven constituencies in six sates concluded on Thursday with 55.79 per cent votes being polled till 5 pm. The polls took place in Telangana, Bihar, Maharashtra, Haryana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Long queues were seen in front of the polling stations even before the voting started. The counting of votes will take place on November 6.
Telangana's Munugode
Over 77 per cent polling was reported till 5 pm in the by-poll to the Munugode Assembly constituency in Telangana. The polling had been peaceful with no major law and order issue being reported. 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.
Bihar's Mokama, Gopalganj
While Mokama recorded 52.47 per cent voter turnout, Gopalganj saw 48.35 per cent turnout, officials said. While 2.70 lakh people are eligible to exercise their franchise in Mokama, the number of voters in Gopalganj is 3.31 lakh.
Odisha's Dhamnagar
A total 58.53 per cent votes were cast till 5 pm in the by-poll being held in Dhamnagar assembly seat, an EC official said. Voting was held in all the 252 polling stations of the constituency. A 110 booths were declared as sensitive and there will be webcasting in 126 booths. Some initial EVM glitches were reported and were immediately solved, he said. Pick-up and drop arrangements have been made available for voters with physical disabilities, the official said. A total of 2.38 lakh voters - 1.23 lakh men and 1.15 lakh women - are eligible to exercise their franchise.
Haryana's Adampur
A poll percentage of 69.21 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in Haryana's Adampur Assembly segment . The outcome of the bypoll will decide if the Bhajan Lal family will retain the family bastion of five decades. Polling began at 7 am and concluded at 6 pm. Nearly 1.71 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes. Counting of votes will be taken up on November 6.
Uttar Pradesh's Gola Gorakhnath
An average voter turnout of 55.68 per cent has been recorded till 5 pm in the Gola Gokarannath constituency of Uttar Pradesh. Earlier in the day while a senior official said voting was going on peacefully, the Samajwadi Party (SP) alleged that some polling centres have been captured by workers of the ruling BJP. "Polling centres in Lalahapur, Madanpur and Lakshmanjati in Gola Gokarannath assembly have been captured by BJP workers. SP voters, booth in-charges and agents have been driven away. The Election Commission should take cognisance of this and ensure fair polls," the SP tweeted in Hindi. Over 3.90 lakh voters are eligible to decide the fate of seven contestants in the fray.
Poor turnout in Maharashtra's Andheri East
Voter turn out was comparatively low in Mumbai's Andheri East Assembly constituency. Only 28.77 percent of electorate casted their votes till 5 pm. This is the first Assembly election in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed in June following a revolt by Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde. Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, is expected to win comfortably in the byelection after the BJP withdrew its nominee. There are 2,71,502 registered voters in the constituency and 256 polling booths.
