Voting in 13 Assembly seats in 7 states, first bypolls after Lok Sabha elections

Voting for the bypolls to 13 Assembly constituencies across seven states began on Wednesday.

The first such electoral exercise after the high-octane Lok Sabha elections held in April-June. Polling began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm.

Polling is underway in Rupauli in Bihar, Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagdah and Maniktala (all in West Bengal), Vikravandi (Tamil Nadu), Amarwara (Madhya Pradesh), Badrinath and Manglaur (all in Uttarakhand), Jalandhar West (Punjab) and Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh (all in Himachal Pradesh).

The bypolls were necessitated following vacancies due to the deaths of incumbent MLAs and resignations from different parties. The counting of votes will be on July 13.

The INDIA bloc, buoyed by its improved performance in the Lok Sabha elections, is looking to capitalise on the gains made and is locking horns with the NDA.

WEST BENGAL BYPOLLS
In West Bengal, the stakes are high for both the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP. The TMC is looking to capitalise on its improved performance in the Lok Sabha polls, while the BJP is seeking to leverage the significant leads it made in the four constituencies in the parliamentary polls.

The TMC won Maniktala seat in the 2021 Assembly elections while the BJP won Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagda. Later, the BJP MLAs switched to the TMC.

The Maniktala bypoll was necessitated by the death of sitting TMC MLA Sadhan Pandey in February 2022.

The TMC has fielded Pandey’s wife Supti from the seat. The ruling party has fielded Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj and Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat Dakshin.

In Badgah, a Matua-majority constituency, the TMC has fielded Madhuparna Thakur, a member of the Matua Thakurbari and daughter of party Rajya Sabha MP Mamatabala Thakur.

Kalyani, Adhikari and Biswajit Das had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls on TMC tickets after resigning from the BJP.

The BJP has fielded All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey from Maniktala, Manoj Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin, Binay Kumar Biswas from Bagdah and Manas Kumar Ghosh from Raiganj.

HIMACHAL PRADESH BYPOLLS
In Himachal Pradesh, bypolls are being held for three assembly constituencies — Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh.

The seats fell vacant after the three independent legislators, Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and KL Thakur (Nalagarh), who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the House on March 22.

The BJP has fielded the three former Independent MLAs from their respective seats after they joined the party.

The Congress’s pick in Dehra is Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur. She will take on BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh, one of the nine MLAs who had voted against the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.

In Hamirpur, the home district of Sukhu, former Independent MLA Ashish Sharma is pitted against Congress’ Puspender Verma.

Former Independent legislator KL Thakur is facing old rival Hardeep Singh Bawa of the Congress in Nalagarh. The entry of BJP dissident Harpreet Saini, who is contesting as an Independent, has made the contest triangular.

UTTARAKHAND BYPOLLS
Bypolls for two legislative Assembly seats, Badrinath and Manglaur, are underway.

The Badrinath seat, one of the 14 under the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency, became vacant after Congress MLA Rajendra Bhandari resigned in March and joined the BJP. The BJP has nominated Bhandari from Badrinath while the Congress has fielded Lakhpat Butola, a former district panchayat president.

The Manglaur seat bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari last October. The BJP has fielded Kartar Singh Bhadana from Manglaur seat, which the party has never won since Uttarakhand’s creation as a separate state in 2000.

The Congress has nominated senior party leader Qazi Nizamuddin for the seat, a Muslim-majority constituency, which he has won three times, in 2002, 2007 and 2017.

TAMIL NADU BYPOLL

The bypoll to the Vikravandi seat was necessitated after the death of sitting DMK MLA N Pughazenthi in April this year. The seat will see a three-cornered contest between the ruling DMK, the Anbumani Ramdoss-led PMK, an NDA constituent, and the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).

The AIADMK, meanwhile, has decided to boycott the Vikravandi bypoll. The DMK has fielded Anniyur Siva for the bypoll, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has nominated party vice president C Anbumani.

The Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), a pro-Tamil party which gained recognition after the Lok Sabha elections, fielded Dr Abhinaya. All three candidates belong to the OBC Vanniyar community.

The PMK and NTK believe that the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, in which over 50 people died, will work against the DMK. However, ground reports suggest that the political dynamics of Vikravandi, dominated by the Vanniyar community, might favour the DMK.

BIHAR BYPOLL
The bypoll to Rupauli was necessitated following the resignation of sitting JD(U) MLA Bima Bharti, who switched over to the RJD and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from Purnia.

The RJD has given a ticket to Bima Bharti, a five-time MLA from Rupauli, while the JD(U) has fielded Kaladhar Mandal.

Both the leaders belong to the Gangota community, which comprises the majority of the population in the Rupauli Assembly seat.

MADHYA PRADESH BYPOLL
A bypoll was necessitated in Amarwara (ST) Assembly seat after Kamlesh Shah, the Congress leader representing the constituency, crossed over to the BJP and resigned ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The bypoll has turned into a prestige battle for the Congress and the BJP as the seat falls under Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency, considered to be the stronghold of Congress veteran Kamal Nath.

The BJP won the Chhindwara seat in the recent Lok Sabha polls. However, the party lost all the seven segments under the Chhindwara district in the 2023 Assembly polls despite returning to power.

While the BJP has fielded Kamlesh Shah, the Congress has nominated Dheeran Shah Invati in this tribal-dominated constituency. Tribal outfit Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), which bagged this seat once in 2003, has also entered the fray and can eat into the vote share of both the parties.

PUNJAB BYPOLL
The Jalandhar West bypoll has turned into a prestige battle for the AAP, with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann leading the party’s campaign from the front. The bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of AAP MLA Sheetal Angural, who had joined the BJP.

Bhagwant Mann, who has been camping in Jalandhar and has also taken a house on rent in the city, is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a win for its candidate Mohinder Bhagat.

Meanwhile, the Congress, buoyed by winning seven of the 13 seats in the Lok Sabha, has fielded five-time councillor Surinder Kaur. The BJP has nominated former AAP MLA Sheetal Angural.