Bypolls to three Lok Sabha and 29 Assembly seats - across 13 states and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli - was held today. Votes will be counted on Tuesday. The three Lok Sabha bypolls were in Himachal Pradesh (Mandi), Madhya Pradesh (Khandwa) and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
Bengal saw four bypolls. In Assam five Assembly bypolls were held. Other states where bypolls were held are Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Mizoram.
Here are the highlights :
An average of 70 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the bypoll to Dhariawad and Vallabhnagar assembly constituencies of Rajasthan on Saturday. The polling ended at 6 pm.
An estimated 73.38 per cent of 7.96 lakh electors voted in bye-elections to five Assembly constituencies in Assam on Saturday, which remained peaceful, an official said. Polling was conducted with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols in Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur, Mariani and Thowra seats.
At least 81.28 per cent of the 17,911 electorate cast their votes in the by-poll to Tuirial assembly seat in Mizoram which was held amidst tight security on Saturday, state chief electoral officer P Jawahar said.
Byelection to the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency recorded 75.51 per cent turnout as the voting concluded at 7 pm today, Election Commission officials said.
Villagers in three panchayats in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district boycotted the bypoll to the Mandi Lok Sabha seat today in protest against the construction of a hydro-electric project which they claimed will adversely affect the environment, the PTI reported.
An estimated 49.60 per cent of 5,84,395 voters exercised their franchise in the by-elections to two assembly constituencies in Bihar till the end of polling at 4 pm on Saturday, the Election Commission said.
The Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly segment registered the highest polling percentage of 66.1, and the lowest voter turnout of 49.83 per cent was recorded in the Mandi Lok Sabha segment till 5 pm today in the bypolls to three Assembly seats and one parliamentary constituency in Himachal Pradesh, an election official said.
The first voter of independent India, 104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, cast his vote in the Mandi parliamentary bypoll at the model polling station of Kalpa in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh today.
The Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh witnessed highest voter turnout of over 27 per cent while the Mandi Lok Sabha seat saw the lowest polling at over 19 per cent till 12 pm.
Over 27 per cent polling was registered in the bypoll to the Dhariawad (Pratapgarh) assembly constituency while the figure for the Vallabhnagar (Udaipur) seat was more than 23 per cent till 11 am.
An estimated 12.86 per cent of the total 7.96 lakh electors exercised their franchise till 9 am on Saturday for bypolls to five assembly constituencies in Assam where voting is underway with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols, an official said.
The polling has been peaceful so far, and long queues were seen outside polling booths with voters and election officials adhering to COVID-19 protocols, he said.
As three Lok Sabha and 30 assembly constituencies vote in by-elections on Saturday, the polls will draw up crucial tests for several leaders and some state Chief Ministers even though they aren't expected to have any major bearing on the stability of
Voting began at 7 am on Saturday for bypolls to the four assembly constituencies of Dinhata in Cooch Behar, Shantipur in Nadia, Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas districts.
The bypoll to the Ellenabad Assembly constituency in Haryana's Sirsa district on Saturday is all set to witness a triangular contest, with opposition INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala, whose resignation over the farm laws issue necessitated the election, eyeing another win.
The bypoll will be held on October 30 and the counting will take place on November 2.
