नवीनतम
By-Elections: Polling underway for 8 Assembly seats across 7 states
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Voting began for the high-stakes assembly bye-elections in eight Assembly constituencies across seven states on Tuesday, amid tight security arrangements.
The polling began at 7 am on the Budgam and Nagrota seats in Jammu and Kashmir, Anta seat in Rajasthan, Ghatasila seat in Jharkhand, Jubilee Hills seat in Telangana, Tarn Taran seat in Punjab, Dampa seat in Mizoram and Nuapada seat in Odisha. Counting is scheduled on November 14.
For the first time, drone surveillance is deployed at all polling locations, for centralised aerial monitoring and real-time situation analysis. Web-casting is arranged at all polling stations for real-time monitoring. The campaigning for the by-election, which mirrored a general election, came to an end on Sunday.
Anta Constituency
Two hundred and sixty-eight polling stations have been set up across the constituency. A total of 2,28,264 voters, including 1,16,783 men, 1,11,477 women, are eligible to vote in the bypoll. The seat fell vacant after the disqualification of sitting MLA (BJP) Kanwar Lal Meena following a conviction in a criminal case.
A total of 15 candidates are in the fray. Former minister Pramod Jain Bhaya is contesting as Congress candidate while the BJP has fielded Morpal Suman. At present, the ruling BJP has 118 out of the 200 Assembly seats. Congress has 66, Bharat Adivasi Party four, BSP two and RLD has one.
Dampa Constituency
Voting for the Dampa assembly bypoll in Mizoram’s Mamit district began under tight security arrangements, officials said. Polling began at 7 am and will be conducted till 4 pm across 41 booths in the constituency, which shares borders with Bangladesh and Tripura. The ruling ZPM fielded Mizo singer and preacher Vanlalsailova, while the main opposition MNF nominated its senior vice-president R Lalthangliana.
The Congress fielded party vice-president John Rotluangliana, while the BJP nominated Lalhmingthanga. The by-election was necessitated following the death of incumbent MNF legislator Lalrintluanga Sailo.
Jubilee Hills Constituency
Over 4.01 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, who will decide the electoral fortunes of 58 candidates. The contest is triangular among the ruling Congress, BJP and BRS. According to officials, 226 polling stations have been identified as "critical" out of the total 407 polling stations.
The bypoll is necessitated by the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year. The BJP has fielded L Deepak Reddy, while Gopinath's widow Sunita is the BRS candidate. The ruling Congress candidate is Naveen Yadav, who enjoys the support of Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM.
The bypoll has assumed significance with Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy leading an intense campaign in the constituency for several days, unprecedented for a CM in a by-election. Not only the chief minister, but the ruling Congress deployed all ministers for the campaign.
Muslims, with an estimated population of one lakh in the constituency, would play a decisive role in the outcome of the bypoll. Polling would conclude at 6 PM.
Tarn Taran Constituency
Polling for the high-stakes Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll in Punjab began amid tight security arrangements. The polling began at 7 am and it will continue till 6 pm, said officials. The Tarn Taran assembly seat fell vacant following the death of Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June.
The bypoll is set to witness a multi-cornered contest, a crucial fight before the 2027 Assembly elections in the state. There are 15 candidates in the fray. The number of eligible voters is 1,92,838--1,00,933 male, 91,897 female, and eight third-gender--in the constituency.
A total of 222 polling stations have been set up at 114 locations, of which 60 are urban and 162 are rural, including four 'model' and three 'pink' polling booths, officials said.
AAP has fielded Harmeet Singh Sandhu, a three-time MLA from Tarn Taran, who joined the ruling party in July this year. Stakes are also high for the Congress, which has fielded its Tarn Taran district unit chief Karanbir Singh Burj for the bypoll. The BJP has named Harjit Singh Sandhu, the president of the party's district unit, as its candidate for the bypoll.
Another candidate in the fray is Independent nominee Mandeep Singh, the brother of Sandeep Singh alias Sunny, an accused in the 2022 murder of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri.
Nuapada Constituency
Voting began for the by-election to the Nuapada assembly seat in Odisha at 7 am and will end at 5 pm in 311 booths. It will conclude at 4 pm in the other 47 sensitive booths, including those in Left Wing Extremist-affected places.
Of the 14 contestants, the key candidates are the BJD’s Snehangini Chhuria, BJP’s Jay Dholakia, Congress' Ghasiram Majhi, and Ramakanta Hati of the Samajwadi Party. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8. The BJP nominee is the son of the deceased.
Budgam Constituency
Polling to decide the fate of 17 candidates in the Budgam assembly bypoll began at 173 polling stations across the constituency and was going on smoothly, the officials said. They said the voting would end at 6 pm. The Budgam assembly constituency has around 1.26 lakh registered voters.
The bypoll was necessitated after Abdullah vacated the seat following his election from the family bastion of Ganderbal as well in the last year's assembly polls.
There are 17 candidates in the fray as Aga Syed Mehmood of ruling National Conference faces a stiff challenge from the PDP's (People's Democratic Party) Aga Muntazir. Besides the two Shia candidates, other key candidates include the BJP's Syed Mohsin, Awami Ittehad Party's Nazir Ahmad Khan, Aam Aadmi Party's Deeba Khan, and independent candidate Muntazir Mohiuddin.
Nagrota Constituency
Bypoll to Nagrota assembly constituency began with over 97,000 voters to decide the fate of ten candidates. The segment is witnessing a three-cornered contest among the BJP, National Conference (NC) and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP). The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of former MLA Devender Singh Rana on October 31 last year.
His 30-year-old daughter, Devyani Rana, riding on public sympathy and goodwill, is contesting on a BJP ticket. She faces NC’s 37-year-old nominee Shamim Begum, a postgraduate in Urdu and a sitting District Development Council (DDC) member, and JKNPP president Harsh Dev Singh, a senior advocate and former education minister.
A total of 97,893 voters are eligible to cast their vote at 154 polling stations. Harsh Dev Singh, who represented Ramnagar for three consecutive terms in 1996, 2002 and 2008, is contesting from Nagrota for the first time.
Anil Sharma, a former sarpanch and BJP rebel, is contesting as an Independent after failing to secure the party mandate. Another lawyer, Joginder Singh, is in the fray as the AAP candidate. Five more Independents are also contesting.
Nagrota has alternated between the BJP and NC over five elections since 1996. Ajatshatru Singh (NC) won in 1996, followed by BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma in 2002 and 2008. Devender Singh Rana won the seat for NC in 2014 and retained it in 2024 as a BJP candidate after switching parties in 2021.
