GG News Bureau
Kolkata/Lucknow/Kottayam, 8th Sept. The results of by-elections to seven assembly seats in six states will be announced today, in what is viewed as a crucial test of strength for the opposition alliance INDIA against the BJP-led NDA ahead of elections in five states later this year and Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. in centres set up in each state.
On September 5, elections were held in seven seats: Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Puthuppally in Kerala, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Dumri in Jharkhand, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura.
The INDIA coalition put up a united front in the Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where the polling percentage was 50.77, and in Dumri in Jharkhand, where 64.84 percent of 2.98 lakh people exercised their franchise.
Out of the seven seats, three (Dhanpur, Bageshwar and Dhupguri) were held by the BJP and one each by the Samajwadi Party (Ghosi), CPI(M) (Boxanagar), JMM (Dumri) and the Congress (Puthuppally).
In Uttar Pradesh, the Ghosi seat became vacant after SP MLA and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan resigned and rejoined the BJP.
The counting for the Bageshwar assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand would be done at 14 tables with 130 polling staff, District Magistrate Anuradha Pal announced on Thursday.
After the death of its MLA and cabinet member Chandan Ram Das in April of this year, the Bageshwar seat became vacant. Since 2007, he had won the seat four times.
INDIA alliance and NDA candidates in Jharkhand are crossing their fingers ahead of the Dumri assembly bypolls. According to an election official, the counting centre has been established in Krishi Bazar Samiti, Pachambha, in Giridih district.
“In all, 24 rounds of counting will be held and over 70 officials have been deployed for the exercise,” Giridih Deputy Commissioner-cum-Election Officer Naman Priesh Lakra said.
“Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and various wings of the Jharkhand police have been deployed to ensure free and fair counting,” he said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken the necessary steps in Tripura to conduct the counting in a transparent manner, according to a senior election official on Thursday.
The votes for both seats, Boxanagar and Dhanpur, will be counted at Sonamura Girls’ HS School. “There is tight security at the counting centre,” Sepahijala District Magistrate Vishal Kumar said.
Tafajjal Hussain of the BJP is running against CPI(M) nominee Mizan Hussain from Boxanagar, where he ran unsuccessfully in the last assembly election.
The CPI(M) declared on Wednesday that it will boycott the counting, citing widespread rigging in the two constituencies during voting.
An official said that personnel from the CAPFs and the state police are protecting the strong room on the second campus of North Bengal University in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal’s Dhupguri.
In the by-election, around 76% of the 2.6 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise.
The Congress-Left coalition has nominated Ishwar Chandra Roy of the CPI(M), while the ruling TMC has fielded Nirmal Chandra Roy, a teacher.
Tapasi Roy, the widow of a CRPF jawan who died fighting terrorists in Kashmir a few years ago, has been nominated by the BJP.
The byelection was called after the death of sitting BJP MLA Bishu Pada Ray earlier this year.
Dhupguri, a Scheduled Castes seat, has a Rajbanshi population of approximately 50% and a minority population of 15%.
Kerala is also waiting for the outcome of the Puthuppally byelection, which saw a heated battle between the UDF and the LDF to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy.
The electorate in southern Kottayam district has seen a war of words in recent weeks, as the September 5 by-election was a coveted battle for both the state’s ruling and opposition parties.
The total number of booths in Puthuppally was 182, and the electronic voting machines would be counted in 13 rounds.
