Assembly, LS bypolls held across five states
NEW DELHI: Bypolls to six assembly constituencies and one Parliamentary seat across five states was held on Monday, along with voting for 93 seats in the second phase of Gujarat elections.
Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh were the assembly seats where the bypolls were held. Voting was also held in Mainpuri Parliamentary seat of Uttar Pradesh.
Both Rampur Sadar and Khatauli recorded a voter turnout of 33% and 56.46%, data released at 6pm. The bypoll in Rampur assembly constituency was necessitated following SP leader Azam Khan’s disqualification over his conviction in a 2019 hate speech case.
The Mainpuri seat, which fell vacant after the death of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on October 10, saw a turnout of 53%. Odisha’s Padampur saw a turnout of nearly 76%, provisional data till 5pm showed.
Bihar’s Kurhani assembly saw a polling percentage of 53%.
“Nitish Kumar stepped down as chief minister in 2014 when he had accepted the moral responsibility for the JD(U)’S drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls. Hope he will do the same when results come out for Kurhani,” senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said.
The election in Chhattisgarh’s Bhanupratappur assembly seat, reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, was largely seen as a direct contest between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP. It saw a turnout of 71.74%.
“In the first two hours, 9.89 per cent voter turnout was recorded,” a polling official said. Rajasthan’s Sardarshahar assembly saw a turnout of 66.8%. The election was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma.