Bypolls: High turnout in most Assembly, LS seats

New Delhi: A turnout of 50 percent to 80 percent was recorded on Saturday in bypolls to three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly constituencies spread across 13 states, with INLD leader Abhay Chautala, who quit the Haryana assembly in protest against the agri laws, and Congress' Pratibha Singh, wife of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh, among the prominent candidates in the fray.

The voting passed off peacefully and it was ensured that all COVID-19 safety measures were followed, officials said.

In Haryana, 80 per cent voting was recorded in the by-election to the Ellenabad Assembly constituency, necessitated by the resignation of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala as MLA in protest against the Centre's new farm laws. Chautala, son of INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, is contesting against Congress nominee Pawan Beniwal and BJP-JP candidate Gobind Kanda, the brother of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and legislator Gopal Kanda.

The Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency recorded 75.51 per cent turnout as the voting concluded at 7 PM, Election Commission officials said.

In Himachal Pradesh, the Mandi Lok Sabha seat from where Pratibha Singh is contesting saw a relatively lower turnout of 49.83 percent till 5 PM. She was pitted against BJP's Khushal Singh Thakur, a Kargil war hero who is trying his luck at the hustings for the first time.

The Mandi seat fell vacant after the death of Ramswaroop Sharma (BJP) in March.

The first voter of independent India, 104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, cast his vote at the model polling station of Kalpa in Kinnaur district

The polling percentage in the three assembly seats - Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai - was 62.4 percent, 61.33 per cent and 66.1 percent respectively till 5 PM.

Besides the three assembly seats in HP, bypolls were held in five assembly seats in Assam, four in West Bengal, three each in Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya, two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Rajasthan and one seat each in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Telangana.

Out of these, the BJP was holding around half a dozen seats, the Congress had nine, while the rest were with the regional parties.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

Khandwa Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, whose MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan of the BJP had died, witnessed a turnout of 63.88 per cent, while an estimated 64.60 per cent voting was recorded in the three Assembly seats.

In Assam, 69.60 percent voting was reported in five assembly constituencies of Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur, Mariani and Thowra seats till 5 PM.

A high voter turnout of nearly 71 percent was recorded till 5 PM in West Bengal's four assembly constituencies. The BJP and TMC held two seats each.

In Bihar, an estimated 49.60 percent voting was recorded in the two assembly constituencies of Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur which were held by the JD(U).

An average of 70 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the bypoll to Dhariawad and Vallabhnagar assembly constituencies of Rajasthan.

An estimated 56.78 percent voter turnout was recorded in the bypolls to Sindgi and Hangal assembly constituencies in Karnataka.

In Telangana, byelection was held in the Huzurabad assembly constituency with the ruling TRS, opposition BJP and Congress locked in a triangular contest.

Though by-election was also announced for the Shamator-Chessore assembly constituency in Nagaland, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party candidate S Keoshu Yimchunger was declared elected uncontested on October 13.

Bypolls were also be held in Andhra Pradesh's Badvel seat, earlier held by YSRC.

Meghalaya's Rajabala, Mawryngkneng and Mawphlang seats recorded a voting percentage of over 64 per cent.

By-election was held in Deglur in Maharashtra, earlier held by the Congress, and Tuirial assembly seat in Mizoram.