Voters on Saturday cast their ballots in bypolls for eight Assembly seats and four Lok Sabha seats in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The results are likely to be affected by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s recent decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Arunachal Pradesh:

Citizens voted for the reserved Scheduled Tribe seat of Hayuliang in Anjaw district. North East Democratic Alliance candidate Dasanglu Pul, wife of former chief minister Kalikho Pul, was up against independent candidate Yompi Kri. The Assembly constituency saw a voter turnout of 72%.

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Assam:

The Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency went to the polls, along with the Baithalangso seat. The two constituencies have a combined electorate of around 1.7 million voters.

Lakhimpur, which was vacated by incumbent Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, saw a 55% voter turnout. while the MLA from Baithalangso, Mansing Rongpi, had switched from Congress to the BJP this year.

Tripura:

By-elections were held for the Barjala and Khowai seats, where the Trinamool Congress campaigned aggressively. There was an 86% voter turnout in Barjala and 94% in Khowai.

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West Bengal:

West Bengal voted for two Lok Sabha constituencies – Cooch Behar and Tamluk – and one Assembly seat – Monteswar. The ruling Trinamool Congress, BJP, Left Front and Congress have fielded candidates for all three seats. TMC campaigned heavily in these constituencies, paying special attention to the Centre’s recent demonetisation move.

Tamil Nadu & Puducherry:

Voting ended at 5 pm for three Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu – Thirupparankundram, Aravakkurichi and Thanjavur – and for Nellithope in Puducherry. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, a non-member of the House, is contesting from Nellithope against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Om Sakhti Sekhar. Narayanasamy is being backed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Polls in Aravakkurichi and Thanjavur were postponed after reports of cash being distributed in exchange for votes, ahead of the May 16 Assembly polls.

Madhya Pradesh:

Bypolls were held for the Nepanagar Assembly seat and the parliamentary constituency of Shahdol, both of which are reserved for scheduled caste legislators. Congress and BJP fielded candidates for these seats.