About 50% of all voters in the Lok Sabha constituency of Alwar in Rajasthan had cast their votes by 3 pm on Monday, ANI reported.
The other Lok Sabha seat in the state, Ajmer, recorded a 65.33% turnout. In the village of Manda in Ajmer, people said they would not vote till the authorities meet their demands for adequate water supply and better roads.
The Assembly constituency of Mandalgarh in Rajasthan recorded 45.08% turnout, PTI reported. All the three constituencies were earlier with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Uluberia Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal had a 48% turnout by noon, while 55% voters had cast their votes in the Noapara Assembly seat in the state, reported PTI.
Counting for all the seats will take place on February 1.
Rajasthan
All three seats fell vacant in 2017, following the deaths of the incumbents. Ajmer’s MP Sanwar Lal Jat died after collapsing at a meeting in Jaipur in August, The Hindu reported. Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari died in August, of swine flu, while Alwar MP Mahant Chand Nath died in September.
There are 11 candidates in the fray in Alwar, 23 in Ajmer and eight in Mandalgarh.
For the first time, electronic voting machines will carry pictures of candidates along with their names, state Chief Election Officer Ashvini Bhagat told the Hindustan Times.
Labour Minister Jaswant Singh Yadav and former Union minister Sanwar Lal Jat’s son Ramswaroop Lamba will contest the Alwar and the Ajmer Lok Sabha seats for the BJP, The Times of India reported. Former MLA Raghu Sharma is the Congress’ candidate for the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat, while and Karan Singh Yadav will fight for the Alwar seat.
The BJP’s Shakti Singh Hada is contesting the bye-poll in Mandalgarh, against the Congress’ Vivek Dhakad.
West Bengal
In West Bengal, both the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat and the Noapara Assembly seat will see a direct face-off between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
The death of Trinamool Congress MP Sultan Ahmed in September 2017 has necessitated the polls in Uluberia. Ahmed’s wife Sajda is contesting for the TMC. In Uluberia, where the TMC has been in power since 2009, the BJP is the only party to field a Hindu candidate, The Times of India reported.
The Noapara Assembly seat in North 24 Paraganas fell vacant after its Congress MLA Madhusudhan Ghosh died in April 2017. The TMC’s Sunil Singh is contesting against Communist Party of India’s (Marxist) Gargi Chatterjee, Congress’ Goutam Bose and BJP’s Sandip Banerjee.
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