Bypolls were held in 5 states on Saturday. (File Photo)
A record turnout of voters marked the bypoll to RK Nagar Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, from where Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is seeking re-election after her acquittal in a graft case, while high voting was recorded in five other assembly bypolls spread across as many states.
RK Nagar and Aruvikkara in Kerala, where ruling Congress- led UDF and Opposition CPI(M)-headed LDF are locked in a close contest, registered an identical turnout of 74.4 per cent.
The voter turn out was over 80 per cent in Pratapgarh and Surma seats in Tripura and Chokpot (Meghalaya) while Garoth in Madhya Pradesh saw a turnout of 71.24 per cent.
Counting of votes will be held on June 30.
One of the smallest constituencies in Tamil Nadu, R K Nagar in Chennai city had witnessed 72.72 per cent voting in the 2011 Assembly elections.
CPI, AIADMK's main rival in this bypoll, alleged booth- capturing. The party's candidate C Mahendran said a complaint had been filed with election authorities alleging that some of the booths were captured by AIADMK men.
Besides Jayalalithaa and Mahendran, 26 others, including maverick social activist 'Traffic' Ramaswamy alias KR Ramaswamy. Main opposition parties DMK, DMDK, Congress, BJP and PMK have boycotted the bypoll.
The by-election was necessitated by AIADMK's P Vetrivel vacating the seat in May to enable Jayalalithaa seek re-election post her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court.
In Kerala, voters braved heavy rains to turn out in large numbers for the bypoll in Aruvikkara. During the 2011 assembly elections, the polling percentage in the seat was 70.61.
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of former Speaker G Karthikeyan who represented the segment (previously known as Aryanad) in the state assembly from 1991-2015.
In a three-cornered contest, UDF candidate K S Sabarinath, younger son of Karthikeyan, is taking on former Speaker and ex-minister M Vijaykumar (LDF) and former union minister, O Rajagopal fielded by BJP.
The bypoll is a litmus test for both the Fronts as panchayat polls are to be held later this year and assembly elections are just a year away.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said the poll outcome would be a referendum on the government's performance during the past four years while the Opposition was confident that the electorate would deal a heavy blow to the ruling Front which was facing various allegations.
In the by-election to Garoth assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district, the voter turnout was 71.24 per cent.
A total of eight candidates are in the fray, but the main contest is between Congress nominee and former minister Subhash Sojatia and BJP's Chander Singh Sisodia.
The bypoll was necessitated due to death of sitting BJP MLA Rajesh Yadav.
The outcome of the bypoll is crucial for both ruling BJP and Opposition Congress, which is out of power in the State since 2003.
In the 'hyper sensitive' Chokpot constituency in Meghalaya, the bypoll held amid tight security with over 800 additional paramilitary personnel pressed into service passed off peacefully.
Returning Officer Tangseng G Momin said, "At least 80 per cent of the voters have cast their votes but the percentage could go up as communication with remote polling booths could not be established."
There was no report of any untoward incident and voting has been peaceful, he said.
The seat fell vacant after the death of Garo National Council leader Clifford Marak earlier this year. His widow Kalpana Sangma is a front runner for the seat even as another widow, Bluebell R Sangma, wife of former legislator Mason S Sangma, is contesting on a Congress ticket.
The other two candidates are National Peoples' Party candidate Phillipole D Marak and Independent TR Marak.
In Tripura too, over 80 per cent turn out was recorded in the two reserved seats of Pratapgarh in West Tripura district and Surma in Dhalai district.
"There was no report of any untoward incident from any part of the two constituencies. Voting remained peaceful," SP (police control), Uttam Bhowmick said.
The Pratapgarh seat fell vacant due to the death of CPI(M) veteran and former minister Anil Sarkar while the by-poll for the Surma seat was necessitated as its sitting MLA Sudhir Das died.
Mr Sarkar won from his constituency for eight consecutive times since 1978 and Das won the Surma seat on five consecutive occasions since 1993.
The ruling CPI(M), opposition Congress and BJP fielded their candidates.