New Delhi: Bypolls were held in 13 Assembly constituencies across seven states on July 10 in the first electoral contest since the Lok Sabha polls with the results likely to have an impact on the political fate of the state's ruling and opposition parties.
Polls were held in West Bengal (4 seats), Himachal Pradesh (3 seats), Uttarakhand (2 seats), Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Punjab (1 seat each) to fill the seats falling vacant due to the demise or resignation of incumbent members.
In Himachal Pradesh, where bypolls were necessitated by the resignation of the sitting Independent members, who later joined the BJP, it was a straight contest between the Congress and the BJP. The stakes are high for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu with his wife Kamlesh Thakur making her electoral debut from Dehra in Kangra district.
Election officials said that Himachal witnessed a voter turnout of over 71 per cent till 7 pm and polls were largely peaceful. As per the Election Commission, the Nalagarh constituency recorded the highest polling of 78 per cent, followed by Hamirpur (67.7 per cent) and Dehra (65.42 per cent).
In Bihar, the Rupauli Assembly segment in Purnea district, where RJD candidate Bima Bharti the only woman among the 11 candidates, registered 52.75 per cent polling till 6 pm. Several incidents of violence were also reported during the day leaving four persons, including an SHO, injured in clashes.
In West Bengal, the bypolls were held for Raiganj, Ranaghat-Dakshin, Bagda, and Maniktala seats amid violence and alleged malpractices. The polling saw 62.71 per cent voter turnout by 5 pm as per the last available figures. Over 51 per cent polling was recorded, till 5 pm, in Punjab's Jalandhar West (SC) constituency.
In Madhya Pradesh, 78.38 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the Amarwara Assembly seat in Chhindwara district. A low of 47.68 per cent turnout was recorded in Uttarakhand's Badrinath seat, while Manglaur recorded a high of 67.28 per cent.
In Tamil Nadu’s Vikravandi Assembly seat, where the contest is between the state's ruling DMK and NDA constituent PMK, with the AIADMK not contesting, 77.73 per cent turnout was recorded till 5 pm. An election official said that the results for all 13 seats will be declared on July 13.
