Bye-polls: Low voter turnout in Punjab’s Sangrur, highest in Tripura’s Jubarajnagar

Voting for bye-elections for three Lok Sabha seats and seven Assembly constituencies was held on Thursday.

The three Lok Sabha seats that went to polls are Sangrur in Punjab, and Rampur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. The seven Assembly constituencies are Agartala, Town Bardowali, Surma and Jubarajnagar in Tripura, Atmakur in Andhra Pradesh, Mandar in Jharkhand and Rajinder Nagar in Delhi.

Here are the updates in three Lok Sabha seats:

Sangrur

A low voter turnout of just 37.01% was recorded in the bye-polls held in Punjab’s Sangrur Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency on Thursday. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the constituency had recorded a voter turnout of 72.44%, PTI reported.

A total of 15,69,240 voters were eligible to vote on Thursday.

Voting began at 8 am and ended at 6 pm.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, however, had requested the Election Commission to extend the time till 7 pm, citing that many voters were working till late in the fields owing to the paddy season.

When the Sangrur deputy commissioner-cum-returning officer and the state chief secretary made the same request, the poll panel said it “amounted to attempt of unduly interfering in the election process and influence certain class of voters”, PTI reported.

The bye-polls will test the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party government’s popularity in the state. It comes at a time when the party is facing criticism over the law and order situation in Punjab after the killing of singer Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29.

Rampur and Azamgarh

In Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur and Azamgarh parliamentary constituencies, the voter turnout was recorded at 39.02% and 48.58%.

Over 35 lakh persons are eligible to vote – 17.06 lakh in Rampur and 18.38 lakh in Azamgarh.

Six candidates are contesting in Rampur and 13 in Azamgarh.

Both the Lok Sabha seats are considered bastions of the Samajwadi Party in the state, Dainik Jagran reported.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had vacated the Azamgarh seat after he became an MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly polls last year. The Rampur seat fell vacant after Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was elected to the state Assembly last year.

The Bhartiya Janata Party has fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi from Rampur. Asim Raja is representing Samajwadi Party in the constituency.

In the Azamgarh seat, the BJP has fielded Dinesh Lal Yadav. Dharmendra Yadav will contest for Samajwadi Party. The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Shah Alam.

Here are the updates in seven Assembly constituencies:

Tripura

Four seats in Tripura went to polls – Agartala, Town Bardowali, Surma and Jubarajnagar.

Polling in 221 booths started at 7 am and continued till 5 pm. Twenty-five candidates are in the fray and 1,89,032 persons are eligible to cast their vote.

The voter turnout was highest in Jubarajnagar at 83.12% followed by Surma at 83.11%. Poll turnout in Agartala and Town Bardowali was recorded at 76.72% and 69.54% respectively.

Bye-elections in Agartala and Town Bardowali were held after Sudip Roy Barman and Ashish Saha quit the BJP and joined the Congress in February.

Barman had said that more BJP MLAs will quit the party and the saffron government would lose majority in the Assembly.

On Sunday, Barman sustained injuries after he was attacked by a group of men in Agartala. The Congress had blamed the BJP for the attack.

Last month, Deb was replaced by BJP leader Manik Saha to become the chief minister of Tripura. He is now contesting from Town Bardowali against newly-appointed Congress candidate Ashish Saha.

On Thursday, isolated incidents of violence were reported in Tripura as a policeman was stabbed and a journalist was beaten up, The Hindu reported.

The Congress, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of jamming polling booths, rigging, and targeted assaults. But the saffron party denied the allegations, saying that the polls were taking place under the Election Commission’s watch.

Delhi

The voter turnout in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency was recorded at 43.75%.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP are in a direct fight for the seat.

The seat was vacated by Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha after he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab on March 21, ANI reported.

After casting his vote on Thursday, Chadha exuded confidence in voters.

“I am confident that even in the time to come – keeping in mind the work done by our government, done by me as an MLA for around two years – people of Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency will once again give chance to the party, to a person who will not let this pace slow down,” Chadha said.

While the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Durgesh Pathak to fill Chadha’s seat, the BJP has chosen Rajesh Bhatia. From Congress, Prem Lata is contesting.

Jharkhand

In Jharkhand’s Mandar Assembly constituency, the poll turnout was 61.25%.

Voting was held in 433 polling booths from 7 am to 4 pm on Thursday, Dainik Jagran reported.

The Mandar seat is reserved for members of the Scheduled Tribe community. The constituency has a tribal population of around 1.75 lakh.

BJP’s Gangotri Kujur is contesting against Congress leader Shilpi Neha Tirkey for the seat.

The poll was held after Shilpi Neha Tirkey’s father Bandhu Tirkey was disqualified due to corruption charges in April.

Meanwhile, Deo Kumar Dhan is contesting as an Independent candidate. He is supported by the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

Andhra Pradesh

In Nellore district’s Armakur, the voter turnout was 61.70%.

Voting was held at 279 polling booths from 7 am till 6 pm.

A total of 2,13,327 voters are eligible. Of these, 1,07,367 are women and 1,05,960 are men.

The bye-polls were held after the seat was vacated following the death of Industries Minister M Goutham Reddy in February, Jagran reported.

His brother M Vikram Reddy is contesting on the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party ticket.

Fourteen candidates are in the fray.