By-Polls To 3 Lok Sabha, 29 Assembly Seats Today: Voting Underway Amid Covid Curbs - Know More

Though the by-elections will not government's stability, but Congress and BJP leaders have claimed that the results of the bypolls are likely to impact the assembly elections.

(File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Voting in over 30 Lok Sabha assembly constituencies spread across 13 states and one union territory is underway for by-polls on Saturday, with several key contests in line for parties that have been hit by defections.

According to reports, the main fight is going to between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in majority of the seats.

Three Lok Sabha seats and 29 assembly constituencies are going for by-polls amid adequate security and Covid-19 safety measures, which have been put in place by the Election Commission for the electoral exercise.

Seats Going For By-Polls

Seats including Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh are witnessing Lok Sabha by-elections on Saturday.

Meanwhile, of the 29 assembly constituencies going to the bypolls, five are in Assam, four in West Bengal, three each in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Rajasthan and one seat each is in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Telangana.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

Strict Covid Protocols In Place For By-Polls

The Election Commission has asked state administration for strict maintenance of Coronavirus guidelines during on all the seats that have by-elections due vacant due to various reasons, including the demise of office-bearers for coronavirus.

Lok Sabha By-Polls

By-elections have been called in all three Lok Sabha constituencies as the sitting members had died.

The Mandi seat fell vacant after the death of Ramswaroop Sharma (BJP) in March. The bye-election to the Khandwa parliamentary constituency was necessitated following the death of BJP member Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan while in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, it was due to the demise of Independent Lok Sabha member Mohan Delkar.

Assembly Constituency By-Polls

In Assam, the ruling BJP has fielded candidates in three seats leaving the other two to alliance partner UPPL. The Congress put up nominees in all the five seats, while its former allies, the AIUDF and the BPF, are contesting in two and one seats, respectively.

Bypolls in Gossaigaon and Tamulpur were necessitated due to the death of the sitting MLAs, while the incumbents of Bhabanipur, Mariani and Thowra resigned from their seats to join the ruling BJP. Elected MLAs Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain resigned from Congress and Phanidhar Talukdar from AIUDF and are now fighting on BJP tickets.

Four assembly constituencies in West Bengal are going for by-polls with all eyes set on Dinhata where TMC heavyweight Udayan Guha is looking to reclaim the seat, which the BJP had snatched from him by a whisker in the April elections. The by-poll to Dinhata was necessitated following the resignation of Nisith Pramanik, now Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, as he chose to retain his Lok Sabha membership.

The other three seats where pollings are being held are Santipur in Nadia district, Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas.

Aftermath Of By-Polls

Though the by-elections will not government's stability, but Congress and BJP leaders have claimed that the results of the bypolls are likely to impact the assembly elections. Five out of these states are slated for assembly polls in 2022.

(With inputs from PTI)