The polls were held at Mokama and Gopalganj in Bihar, Andheri (East) in Maharashtra, Adampur in Haryana, Munugode in Telangana, Gola Gokarannath in Uttar Pradesh, and Dhamnagar in Odisha Andheri (East) sees the lowest turnout of 31.74%
By-elections to seven Assembly constituencies in six States, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, were held on Thursday with Andheri (East) registering 31.74% polling and Telangana’s Munugode recording a heavy turnout.
The polls were held in Mokama and Gopalganj constituencies in Bihar, Andheri (East) in Maharashtra, Adampur in Haryana, Munugode in Telangana, Gola Gokarannath in Uttar Pradesh, and Dhamnagar in Odisha.
Among the seven seats where the byelections were held, the BJP was in power in three seats and the Congress in two, while the Shiv Sena and the RJD held one each. Counting will take place on November 6.
The polls in Mokama and Gopalganj passed off peacefully with 53.45% and 51.48% turnout respectively, which was however low compared to the 2020 Assembly elections when the turnout in Mokama was 54.1% and 55.3% in Gopalganj.
SP’s charge
At Gola Gokarannath, the bypoll ended amid allegations by the Samajwadi Party that some polling centres were captured by BJP supporters who drove away SP voters.
The seat is likely to see increase in voting percentage compared to the 2022 polls as the latest figures by the Election Commission (EC) till 5 p.m. recorded 55.68% polling, which is 7% more than the last Assembly election.
The first electoral test for the newly appointed BJP State president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and General Secretary (Organisation) Dharampal, the by-election was necessitated by the death of sitting BJP MLA Arvind Giri in September.
The bypoll in Mokama was necessitated after the sitting Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA and bahubali (strongman) Anant Singh alias Chhote Sarkar (mini government) was convicted in an arms seizure case and sentenced to 10-year jail.
In Gopalganj, the bypoll was held after sitting BJP legislator Subhash Singh died following prolonged illness. This is the first bypoll after the ruling ally Janata Dal (United) had severed ties with the BJP in August this year to form the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government along with the RJD, the Congress and other smaller parties.
In Haryana, 70% turnout was recorded at Adampur in Hisar as per the EC’s “Voter Turnout App”. The election was peaceful, said the police.
Long queues
Returning Officer Subhash Sharma said there were long queues of voters outside the booths at 6 p.m. deadline, and the final turnout was expected to be higher.
In Munugode, the by-election ended peacefully as close to 90% of voters exercised their franchise till 6 p.m. Brisk polling was reported from several mandals from 7 a.m. while voters in several villages reportedly refused to come to the polling stations as the major contending parties have not delivered the freebies assured to them. But, voting picked up by afternoon, crossing 59% by 3 p.m.
Conversely, voting in Mumbai’s Andheri (East) recorded the lowest turnout of 31.74%, as no major political party was in the fray, except for Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray-backed Rutuja Ramesh Latke.
The cosmopolitan Assembly segment has 2,71,502 registered voters, mostly lower middle class and middle class, of them only around 86,000 participated in the poll. Polling began at 7 a.m. and continued till 6 p.m. in 256 booths. It started on a dull note with 3.61% turnout in the first two hours. At 11 a.m. it recorded 9.72%, and at 1 p.m. it was 16.89%; the turnout was 22.85% till 3 p.m. and an hour before the deadline at 5 p.m. it was 28.77%.
Speaking to The Hindu, Additional Chief Secretary and Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra, Shrikanth Deshpande, said polling went off peacefully as per the schedule. “However, the overall turnout was very low,” he said.
Meanwhile, amid allegations of rigging and clashes between supporters of rival candidates, 58.53% of 2.38 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 5 p.m. in the Dhamnagar by-election in Odisha.