The results for seven assembly byelections, held in six states, will be out on Friday, an event that will determine the electoral prospects of the newly formed INDIA alliance. The counting began at 8 am at centres set up in the respective states.
INDIA candidates take on BJP-led NDA in three seats, while the contest is mainly between the INDIA constituent parties in the remaining four seats. The bypolls were seen as a major test for the Opposition coalition against the BJP-led NDA ahead of the polls in five states later this year and Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
The seven seats are Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Puthuppally in Kerala, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Dumri in Jharkhand, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura. The polls were held on September 5.
The spotlight is mostly on Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh where INDIA candidate fights the BJP. The voting was moderate at around 50.77 per cent. The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan, who rejoined the BJP.
In Dumri, a total of 64.84 per cent of 2.98 lakh voters exercised their franchise. The counting centre has been set up at Krishi Bazar Samiti, Pachambha, in Giridih district. "In all, 24 rounds of counting will be held and over 70 officials have been deployed for the exercise," Giridih Deputy Commissioner-cum-Election Officer Naman Priesh Lakra told PTI.
The Bageshwar seat in Uttarakhand fell vacant after the death of its MLA and cabinet minister Chandan Ram Das in April this year. He had won the seat four times since 2007. The counting here will be done at 14 tables with 130 polling personnel on the job, District Magistrate Anuradha Pal said on Thursday.
Out of the seven seats, three (Dhanpur, Bageshwar and Dhupguri) were held by the BJP and one each by the SP (Ghosi), CPI(M) (Boxanagar), JMM (Dumri) and the Congress (Puthuppally).
In Tripura, security has been intensified ahead of the counting. The counting of votes to Boxanagar and Dhapur will take at Sonamura Girls' HS School where there is a tight cover.
The contest in Boxanagar is between BJP's Tafajjal Hussain and CPI(M) nominee Mizan Hussain. However, the CPI(M) announced to boycott the counting alleging large rigging in the two constituencies during voting.
In West Bengal's Dhupguri, the contest is between CPI(M)'s Ishwar Chandra Roy, a joint candidate of the Congress-Left alliance, and ruling TMC's Nirmal Chandra Roy.
#WATCH | Jalpaiguri, West Bengal: Security tightened as the counting for the Dhupguri Assembly by-polls to begin shortly.
— ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2023
(Visuals from Netaji Subhas Open University) pic.twitter.com/g9GPdtxPOK
The personnel of the central armed police forces and state police are guarding the strong room on the second campus of North Bengal University in Jalpaiguri, an official said. The bypoll to the seat was necessitated due to the death of sitting BJP MLA Bishu Pada Ray earlier this year.
Dhupguri, a scheduled caste-reserved seat, has nearly 50 per cent Rajbanshi people and 15 per cent minority population.
In Kerala's Puthupally, the fight is between the UDF and LDF to fill the seat left vacant by the demise of Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy.
According to Election Commission sources, the counting of votes would begin by 8.00 am at the special counting station in the Baselius College. Postal and service ballots would be counted first, they said.
(With PTI inputs)
