The results for the by-elections in 13 Assembly seats across seven states will be declared today, July 13. The counting of votes began at 8 am in key constituencies in West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Bihar.
These fiercely contested bypolls, which took place on July 10, are the first since the Lok Sabha election. Both the ruling BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc, comprising Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, and the Aam Aadmi Party, are vying for these seats. While Uttarakhand and West Bengal witnessed sporadic violence on polling day, overall turnout remained high.
In West Bengal, a voter turnout of 62.71 percent was recorded in the bypolls for four assembly constituencies. Incidents of violence were reported from Bagdah and Ranaghat Dakshin, with the BJP accusing Trinamool Congress cadres of assaulting booth agents and hindering candidates from visiting some polling stations. The bypolls in West Bengal were necessary as Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Biswajit Das from Bagdah, and Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat Dakshin vacated their seats to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, aims to sustain the dominance it achieved in the recent parliamentary elections, where it secured 29 out of 42 seats in Bengal, while the BJP seeks a rebound after its seat count dropped from 18 in 2019 to 12.
In Uttarakhand, the Manglaur assembly constituency saw an outbreak of violence that left four people injured. Despite this, a high polling percentage of 67.28 percent was recorded. The Badrinath bypoll was contested between BJP’s Rajendra Bhandari and Congress newcomer Lakhpat Singh Butola.
Bihar witnessed over 57 percent voter turnout in the Rupauli assembly seat bypoll. This by-election was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who had won the seat for JD(U) several times but quit the party recently to contest Lok Sabha elections on an RJD ticket.
In Madhya Pradesh, polling for the Amarwara (ST) assembly seat in Chhindwara recorded a voter turnout of 78.71 percent. The seat fell vacant after three-time Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah switched to the BJP in March. The outcome is being closely watched by both BJP and Congress, as Chhindwara was considered a stronghold of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath until recently.
Tamil Nadu’s Vikravandi assembly constituency recorded a voter turnout of 82.48 percent. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of DMK legislator N Pughazhendhi. A total of 29 candidates are contesting, with the ruling DMK’s candidate Anniyur Siva (alias Sivashanmugam A) pitted against PMK’s C Anbumani and Naam Tamilar Katchi’s K Abinaya.
In Punjab, a 55 percent voter turnout was recorded in the Jalandhar West assembly bypoll. The constituency saw a multi-cornered contest among the ruling AAP, the BJP, and Congress. The seat fell vacant after AAP legislator Sheetal Angural joined the BJP.
Himachal Pradesh recorded voter turnout between 63 percent and 75 percent in the bypolls for three assembly constituencies. The seats fell vacant after Independent legislators Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), and KL Thakur (Nalagarh) resigned from the state assembly and joined the BJP. The counting will also determine the fate of Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who was fielded by the Congress in Dehra. The party also repeated Pushpinder Verma in Hamirpur and gave a ticket to Hardeep Singh Baba in Nalagarh.
As the counting progresses, the results of these bypolls will be closely monitored, marking a significant test for both the BJP and the INDIA bloc in the post-Lok Sabha election landscape.
