Voting underway for bye-polls in one Lok Sabha seat, four Assembly constituencies

Voting began on Tuesday morning for bye-polls in one Lok Sabha seat and four Assembly seats in different parts of the country.

Bye-polls are being held in the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, as well as the Assembly seats of Bochahan in Bihar, Kolhapur North in Maharashtra, Ballygunge in West Bengal and Khairagarh in Chhattisgarh.

The results will be declared on April 16.

West Bengal

In the Asansol Parliamentary constituency, a turnout of 64.03% was recorded till 5 pm, according to data from the Election Commission of India.

The bye-poll in Asansol was necessitated as former Union Minister Babul Supriyo resigned from his post after he quit the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined the Trinamool Congress.

Supriyo is now contesting on a Trinamool Congress ticket from the Ballygunge Assembly constituency.

In Asansol, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate Agnimitra Paul alleged on Tuesday that Trinamool Congress members had hurled stones at her convoy, India Today reported. She alleged that the police did not stop the miscreants.

Visuals by ANI showed people clashing with the police on a street as a car passed by.

The Trinamool Congress candidate, actor Shatrughan Sinha, claimed that he did not know about the alleged attack on Paul’s convoy.

Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP’s Information Technology cell, alleged that the West Bengal Police were “doubling up as polling agents” for the Trinamool Congress in Asansol.

However, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that his party could not be blamed for the violence, The Indian Express reported. “Police is working under the Election Commission now.,” he said. “Why will the TMC be held responsible?”

Meanwhile, in Ballygunge, 41.10% voters had turned up at polling booths till 5 pm, as per official data. The turnout in Ballygunge is currently the lowest among the four poll-bound Assembly constituencies.

Supriyo alleged that BJP candidate Keya Ghosh had entered a couple of booths in the constituency on Monday night, and said that he has urged the Election Commission to take action on the matter, The Times of India reported.

Maharashtra

Till 5 pm, the Kolhapur North Assembly constituency reported a turnout of 55.27%.

The bypolls took place as sitting Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav died due to the coronavirus.

The Congress has fielded the late MLA’s widow Jayashree Jadhav, while the BJP has fielded Satyajit Kadam.

On Tuesday, the Maharashtra Police had registered a non-cognisable offence against some members of the BJP for allegedly distributing cash to voters, PTI reported. Santosh Jadhav, an official from the Laxmipuri police station said that the police had recovered Rs 39,530 in cash from two BJP members.

However, local BJP leader Sunil Kadam alleged that members of his party had found supporters of Congress leader Satej Patil distributing cash in the city’s Shahupuri area. Patil denied the allegation against Congress workers.

More than 2.90 lakh people are eligible to vote in the constituency, PTI quoted the district administration as saying.

Bihar

The constituency of Bochahan in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district recorded a turnout of 57.80% till 5 pm.

The bypoll here was necessitated due to the death of Vikassheel Insaan Party MLA Musafir Paswan.

The party has now fielded Gita Devi from the seat against the BJP’s Baby Kumari.

A total of about 2.90 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots, according to PTI.

Chhattisgarh

Till 5 pm, the constituency of Khairagarh in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district reported the highest turnout among the Assembly constituencies on Tuesday, at 74%.

The bye-polls were held due to the death of Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) legislator Devvrat Singh.

The BJP has fielded former MLA Komal Janghel from the constituency, while the Congress has fielded its Khairagarh block unit chief Yashoda Verma.

The Janata Congress (Chhatttisgarh)‘s candidate from Khairagarh is lawyer Narendra Soni, PTI reported.