UP SEES LOW VOTER TURNOUT OF 47.05%
Overall voting percentage in bypolls to 51 assembly seats was nearly 56.84% Rains mar polling in Kerala
A moderate turnout of nearly 57% was reported on Monday in the bypolls to 51 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states, while voters braved heavy rains in Kerala where streets were inundated and water entered some polling booths.
Uttar Pradesh saw a low voter turnout of 47.05% in 11 assembly seats. Gangoh in Saharanpur district saw a high of about 60.30% voting while Lucknow Cantonment assembly seat witnessed the lowest at 28.53% in the state.
The overall voting percentage in the bypolls to 51 assembly seats was nearly 56.84%, the Election Commission said while releasing data available till 7 pm, adding that the polling passed off peacefully.
The bypolls to the five assembly constituencies in Kerala were marred by heavy rains, especially in Ernakulam, as voters waded through water-logged roads to exercise their franchise and water seeped into some booths on Monday.
Ernakulam saw a relatively low turnout at 53.27%. The voting percentage was above 66 % in the other seats, with the highest in Aroor at 75.74%. The state generally has high polling percentage.
High voter turnout was reported in Khonsa West seat in Arunachal Pradesh (90%), Naxal-hit Chitrakot in Chhattisgarh (74%), Huzurnagar Telangana (84%) and Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh (62%) and Shella in Meghalaya (84.56%), according to data released by the EC. Bypolls were held in one seat each in these states.
In the other northern states, Himachal Pradesh saw an average turnout of nearly 70 % in Pachhad and Dharamshala seats while the figure was 60% in the bypolls to four
Punjab assembly seats — Phagwara (reserve), Jalalabad, Dakha and Mukerian. There was 66% voting Mandawa and Khivsar Assembly constituencies in Rajasthan.
The AIADMK and DMK were locked in a keen contest in Vikravandi and Nanguneri Assembly seats in Tami Nadu where a turnout of 84.36% and 66.10% respectively was recorded.
There was nearly 70% polling in Kamraj Nagar in Puducherry.
The BJP and its allies had nearly 30 of these assembly seats, while the Congress had won 12 and the rest were with regional parties.
In Sikkim, where CM Prem Singh Tamang contested from Poklok Kamrang constitueny, an average turnout of 70% was recorded in three seats. Former Indian football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia is in the fray from Gangtok on Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) ticket.
Voting in the by-elections to the six Gujarat Assembly seat from Gujarat saw the border constituency of Tharad grossing the maximum voting (68.95%) and Amraiwadi in Ahmedabad the minimum (31.53 %), according to the provisional ,official figures released after voting ended on Monday. By the same yardstick, the voting percentage in the remaining constituencies were Radhanpur (59.87), Kheralu (42.81), Bayad (57.81), Lunawada (47.54).
The turnout was over 60% in the bypolls to Satara Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra.