The BJP and the ruling TRS were campaigning aggressively in Telangana’s Munugode, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on a saffron party ticket.
The BJP and the ruling TRS were campaigning aggressively in Telangana’s Munugode, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on a saffron party ticket.
Voting began on November 3 in by-elections to seven assembly constituencies in six states – a contest symbolizing the fierce battle between the BJP and regional parties.
voting in mokama and Gopalganj Assembly Constituency of Bihar, Andheri (East) of Maharashtra, Adampur of Haryana, Munugode of TelanganaGola Gorakhnath in Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar in Odisha.
The administration has made elaborate arrangements for the polling.
Of the seven seats where by-polls are being held, BJP had three, Congress two while Shiv Sena and RJD had one seat each.
While victory in the by-elections would be irrelevant to their position in the legislatures, the parties have not taken the election lightly and have run a high campaign.
Counting of votes will take place on November 6.
The BJP wants to retain the Gola Gorakhnath seat in Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar in BJD-ruled Odisha on the basis of sympathy votes as it has fielded the sons of sitting MLAs whose deaths led to the bypolls.
Telangana
The BJP and the ruling TRS were campaigning aggressively in Telangana’s Munugode, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on a saffron party ticket.
The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for polling in Munugode, including deployment of 3,366 state police and 15 companies of central security personnel. Officials said that webcasting will be done from all the polling stations.
Haryana
In Haryana’s Adampur, former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as an MLA from the seat and had to hold a by-election after he switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi’s son Bhavya is now contesting as a BJP candidate.
The Adampur seat has been occupied by the Bhajan Lal family since 1968, with the late former chief minister representing it on nine occasions, his wife Jasma Devi once and Kuldeep on four occasions.
The major parties contesting the by-elections include the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party.
The Congress has also fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash, a three-time MP from Hisar and a two-time MLA.
INLD has fielded Congress rebel Kurda Ram Numberdar as its candidate. AAP has fielded Satendra Singh, who broke away from BJP.
A state in Eastern India
Bihar will be the first electoral test for the Nitish Kumar-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government formed less than three months ago after the JD(U) broke away from the BJP.
Bypolls are being held in Bihar for Mokama and Gopalganj seats, which were earlier held by RJD and BJP respectively.
BJP is contesting from Mokama constituency for the first time as the saffron party had given up seats for its allies on previous occasions. Both the BJP and the RJD have fielded the wives of local musclemen in the bypolls.
BJP candidate Sonam Devi is up against RJD’s Neelam Devi, whose bypoll is necessitated due to the disqualification of her husband Anant Singh.
Mokama has been Anant Singh’s stronghold since 2005. He won the seat twice on a JD(U) ticket and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appealed to voters to support him.
Sonam Devi, wife of local Bahubali Lalan Singh, who opposed Anant Singh, has got the green signal. Lalan is best known as a confidante of Suraj Bhan Singh, a dreaded gangster-turned-politician who defeated Anant Singh’s elder brother Dilip Singh, who was a minister in the Rabri Devi government, in the 2000 assembly elections.
The BJP has fielded Kusum Devi, wife of late party MLA Subhash Singh, from Gopalganj. The RJD has fielded Mohan Gupta, while Lalu Yadav’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav’s wife Indira Yadav is contesting as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.
Maharashtra
Shiv Sena’s Rutuja hangs Mumbai is expected to win comfortably in the Andheri East assembly constituency when the BJP withdrew from the election, a first since the recent split in the Shiv Sena following the rebellion of Eknath Shinde, who replaced Thackeray as the chief minister of Maharashtra. Changed.
NCP and Congress have supported his candidature.
In May this year, the bypoll had to be held due to the death of Rutuja Latte’s husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latte.
Uttar Pradesh
Gola Gorakhnath seat in Uttar Pradesh fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on 6 September. With the BSP and the Congress staying away from the by-elections, there is a direct fight between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party. The BJP has fielded Arvind Giri’s son Aman Giri, while former Gola MLA Vinay Tiwari is the SP candidate.
Orissa
BJD has fielded lone woman Abanti Das out of the total five candidates from Dhamnagar. The by-election had to be held due to the death of BJP MLA Vishnu Charan Sethi. On the basis of sympathy votes, the saffron party has fielded Sethi’s son Suryavanshi Suraj.
The BJD’s official candidate is facing a rebel as its former MLA Rajendra Das is in the fray as an independent.