New Delhi: The bypolls in Wayanad Lok Sabha seat and 31 assembly constituencies across 10 states is taking place on Wednesday. These by-elections are being held alongside first phase of voting in the Jharkhand assembly elections. The bypolls will an acid test for both NDA and the INDIA bloc.
Most of the by-elections are being conducted as the seats were vacated by members who emerged victorious in Lok Sabha seats. Besides, a few constituencies are holding by-elections due to the deaths of the respective members.
Where is polling taking place?
Voting will take place in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, three in Karnataka, and two in Madhya Pradesh. Apart from this, there will be polling for one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Meghalaya.
As many as nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab and one more seat in Kerala were also to hold polling today. However, the Election Commission of India changed the voting date in these constituencies to November 20.
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) nominees Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai have already won unopposed in Sikkim’s Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang seats as their rivals opted out of the electoral fray.
Wayanad Lok Sabha seat most high-profile
The most high-profile Lok Sabha seat going to bypolls is Kerala’s Wayanad. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut here. The by-elections are being held because her brother Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat and decided to represent Raebareli in the Lok Sabha. Priyanka will contest against LDF’s Sathyan Mokeri, NDA’s Navya Haridas and 13 others. Rahul had bagged the seat, winning by a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes this year.
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, Khinvsar, Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Chaurasi, Deoli-Uniara, Salumbar and Ramgarh seats are going to bypolls.
West Bengal
Six seats are holding by-elections. These are Naihati, Taldangra, Haroa, Medinipur, Sitai-SC, and Madarihat. In the 2021 assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress had secured five out of these. The BJP won the Madarihat seat.
Assam
As many as 34 candidates are contesting in five seats, including Behali, Dholai, Bongaigaon, Samaguri and Sidli. The INDIA bloc failed to strike an agreement on the candidate for Behali, as the Congress chose to field its own candidate at the eleventh hour, which was against the alliance’s resolution to assign the seat to CPI(ML) Liberation.
Bihar
The seats going to bypolls in Bihar are Belaganj, Ramgarh, Imamganj and Tarari. These elections assume importance for both the NDA and INDIA bloc ahead of the assembly polls.
Karnataka
Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur seats are holding bypolls. JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy is in the fray from Channapatna, a seat which was vacated by his father and Union minister H D Kumaraswamy as he was elected to Lok Sabha.
Madhya Pradesh
Budhni and Vijaypur seats are conducting bypolls in Madhya Pradesh. The bypoll to Vijaypur seat in Sheopur district is being conducted after sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP and became a minister in the Mohan Yadav cabinet. The Budhni seat is going to polls as MLA and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha and is Union agriculture minister now.
Vav in Gujarat, Chelakkara in Kerala, Gambegre (ST) in Meghalaya and Raipur City South in Chhattisgarh are the other seats going to bypolls. The votes will be counted on November 23.
