67.59% Voter turnout was recorded in Jharkhand till 5 pm. The voting has ended in the state and now votes will be counted three days later on November 23.

Till 3 pm, 61.47% of voting has been done in Jharkhand. Meanwhile, 45.53% of voting has been done in Maharashtra. On the 10 seats in Mumbai, only 39.24% of voting has ben conducted.

Six assembly seats of West Bengal has so far witnessed a voter turnout of over 45 per cent during by-elections.

Polling in Sitai, Madarihat, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, and Taldangra assembly constituencies started at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm.

Taldangra assembly constituency registered 48 per cent turnout, followed by Haroa (47.10), Medinipur (46.24), Madarihat (46.18), Sitai (45) and Naihati (39.12).

About 46.25 per cent voter turnout has been recorded till 1 pm in the first phase of assembly polls in Jharkhand. 

According to the Election Commission of India, Gumla has reported a turnout of 52.11 per cent, followed by Lohardaga with 51.53 per cent and Khunti with 51.37 per cent.

The voter turnout recorded in Seraikella-Kharsawan is 50.71 per cent, Simdega is 50.66 per cent, and Latehar is 50.41 per cent.

Kodarma recorded a turnout of 47.33 per cent, Ramgarh 46.81 per cent, Garhwa 46.75 per cent, West Singhbhum 46.41 per cent, Hazaribagh 45.77 per cent, Chatra 45.76 per cent, East Singhbhum 44.88 per cent and Palamu 44.00 per cent.

The state capital, Ranchi, has so far recorded a turnout of 40.98 per cent.

Polling for by-elections in Madhya Pradesh's two assembly seats - Budhni in Sehore district and Vijaypur seat in Sheopur district - are underway and voting turnout at these constituencies is recorded 51.16 per cent and 54.86 per cent till 1 pm, respectively.

A voter turnout of 34.77 per cent has been registered till 1 PM in the bypolls to Tarari, Imamganj, Belaganj and Ramgarh assembly seats in Bihar.

According to Election Commission data, Imamganj recorded 38.17 per cent turnout till 1 pm, followed by 35.51 per cent in Belaganj, Ramgarh at 34.43 per cent, Tarari at 30.9 per cent.

All four assembly seats had fallen vacant after MLAs representing them were elected in the last Lok Sabha election.

Naresh Meena, an independent candidate who is contesting the Deoli-Uniara by-poll in Rajasthan, has allegedly slapped an official at a polling booth. 

In a video statement on X, Mr Meena alleged that the Sub-Divisional Magistrate was involved in a discrepancy of votes.

Last week, the Congress had suspended him over a dispute about the party's nominee for the Deoli-Uniara Assembly by-poll.

Mr Meena wanted to contest the seat but the party opted to field Kastor Chand Meena. He then announced he would stand as an independent candidate with support from the Bharat Adivasi Party.

In Jharkhand, voting is also underway at polling stations in Maoist-hit areas like Jambro, Regabeda, Komai, Gilua, Siyadih, and Taramba amid tight security.

The ruling JMM has taken to its social media account to flag a BJP bag that was allegedly kept next to a polling official inside a polling booth.

"Please take cognizance," the party asked the Election Commission of India while tagging a video on X.

Polling is continuing at a brisk pace in the Wayanad Lok Sabha and the Chelakkara assembly constituencies in Kerala as they witnessed a turnout of 34.38 and 36.08 per cent, respectively, after the first five hours of voting.

Jharkhand has recorded a voter turnout of 29.31 per cent as of 11 am in the first phase of Assembly elections.
According to the data of the Election Commission of India, the Khunti district recorded the highest voter turnout of 34.12 per cent while the Ramgarh district recorded the lowest turnout of 24.17 per cent.

Khunti is followed by Gumla with 33.86 per cent turnout, Lohardaga with 33.44 per cent, Simdega 33.18 with per cent, Seraikella-Kharsawan with 32.65 per cent, Koderma with 31.10 per cent, Latehar with 30.59 per cent and Garhwa with 30.38 per cent turnout.

The turnout recorded for Chatra is 29.52 per cent, Hazaribagh is 29.60 per cent, West Singhbhum is 29.42 per cent, Palamu is 28.36 per cent, East Singhbhum is 28.34 per cent and Ranchi is 24.75 per cent.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren have cast their votes at a polling station in Ranchi for the assembly elections.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot has said that his fellow party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will register a "big win" in Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll.

"She will be a strong voice in the Parliament," he said.

Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency was earlier represented by Priyanka's brother Rahul Gandhi. 

Mr Gandhi won the seat in the 2024 general election, but retained the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh and vacated the Kerala constituency, paving the way for the bypoll in which Priyanka Gandhi is making her electoral debut. 

The 52-year-old leader is up against the Left front's Sathyan Mokeri and BJP's Navya Haridas.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot has exuded confidence that his party will win all the seats in Rajasthan Assembly bypolls.

The seven seats where voting is underway are Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chorasi, Salumber and Ramgarh. The results will be declared on November 23.

Jharkhand's Simdega district has so far registered the highest voter turnout at 15.09 per cent, followed by 14.97 per cent each at Lohardaga and Koderma districts, and 14.62 per cent in Seraikela-Kharsawan.

Ramgarh and Khunti both recorded 14.37 per cent voting each, followed by 13.93 per cent in Gumla and 13.80 per cent each in West Sinbhum and Latehar districts.

Garhwa recorded 13.41 per cent polling, Chatra 13.21 per cent, Hazaribag 13.20 per cent, Ranchi 12.06 per cent, Palamu 11.84 per cent, and East Sinbhum 11.25 per cent.

BJP leader and former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has cast his vote at a polling booth in Shiggaon, as voting in bypoll to the assembly constituency is underway.

His son Bharath Bommai is the BJP candidate for bypoll to the Shiggaon assembly constituency.

Jharkhand has so far recorded a voter turnout of 13.04 per cent in the first phase of polling for assembly elections.

Polling began around 7 AM in 34 constituencies across 15 districts and will continue till 5 PM.

Congress candidate for Wayanad Lok Sabha by-elections Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said that her expectation is that the people of Wayanad will give her the chance to "repay the love and affection" they have shown and to work for them and to be their representative. 

"I hope everyone will exercise their democratic right and vote...," she said.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has sought the backing of the people.

In a post on X, he said, "If you like our work, please support us. I promise that I will do 10 years of work in the next 5 years so that no one can stop our pace of progress." 

The JMM-led coalition is seeking to retain power riding on its welfare schemes.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh has voted at a polling station in Ranchi.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is contesting against Left Democratic Front's (LDF) Sathyan Mokeri, BJP's Navya Haridas, and 13 others in Wayanad by-elections, has asked her "dear" sisters and brothers to go out and vote.

"My dear brothers and sisters in Wayanad, thank you from the heart for your love and support. Today is the judgment day of democracy. All of you are humbly requested to visit the polling booth and exercise your precious right of consent. The strength of our democracy is the position you take by voting. Let us move hand in hand for the future of Wayanad," she posted on X.

Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the Governor of Jharkhand, has cast his vote at a polling booth in Ranchi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged voters to exercise their franchise with "full enthusiasm" in the first round of voting in the Jharkhand assembly elections.

"Today is the first round of voting in the Jharkhand assembly elections. I urge all voters to vote with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

"On this occasion, my heartiest congratulations to all my young friends who are going to vote for the first time! Remember - 'pehle matdan, phir jalpaan'!" he added.

Voting has also begun in the by-elections for 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states, as well as for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.

Voting for the Jharkhand assembly elections phase 1 is being held today with 43 of the state's 81 seats up for grabs. Polling will continue till 5 pm.

By-elections will also be held on 31 assembly seats across 10 states and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat of Kerala, from where Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her poll debut.

Elections will be held on seven seats in Rajasthan, six seats in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, three in Kerala, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and one in Meghalaya, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

In two seats of Sikkim, candidates of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha were declared unopposed winners on October 30.

The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has fielded 23 candidates, while its allies Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have put forward 17 and 5 candidates, respectively.

The Opposition BJP has fielded 36 candidates, while the Janata Dal United (JDU) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have nominated 2 and 7 candidates, respectively.

Voting for the Jharkhand assembly elections phase 1 will be held today with 43 of the state's 81 seats up for grabs. 

Polling will begin around 7 am in 15 districts and will continue till 5 pm.