Voting Begins For Bypolls In 7 Seats Across 6 States, Litmus Test For Nitish, Eyes On Munugode. Key Points

Polling in these seven seats was necessitated after the ruling MLAs either passed away or switched parties or were convicted in criminal cases.

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New Delhi: Voting has begun for Bypolls to seven assembly seats across six states. The byelections will be held in two seats of Bihar – Mokama and Gopalganj, Maharashtra’s Andheri (East), Adampur in Haryana, Munugode in Telangana, Gola Gokarannath in Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar in Odisha.

Polling in these seven seats was necessitated after the ruling MLAs either passed away or switched parties or were convicted in criminal cases. The counting of votes will take place on November 6.

Here are the top points:

• In Adampur, Haryana, the bypoll was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal's younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP. Bishnoi's son Bhavya is now contesting as the BJP candidate.
• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been actively campaigning in the seat where Bhajan Lal's grandson is among 22 candidates in the fray.
• Bihar will see the first electoral test for Nitish Kumar-led 'Mahagathbandhan' government, formed less than three months back after the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP. Bypolls are being conducted in Mokama and Gopalganj seats in Bihar, earlier held by RJD and BJP respectively.
• The BJP is contesting from Mokama seat for the first time. BJP nominee Sonam Devi is up against RJD’s Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification led to the by-election.
• In Gopalganj, the saffron party fielded Kusum Devi, wife of deceased party MLA Subhash Singh. The RJD has fielded Mohan Gupta, while Indira Yadav, wife of Lalu Yadav’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav is contesting as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.
• Shiv Sena candidate Rutuja Latke is expected to comfortably win Andheri East Assembly seat in Mumbai, after the BJP withdrew from the contest which is the first after the recent split in the Shiv Sena. The by-election was necessitated after her husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke passed away in May this year.
• The BJP is seeking to retain Gola Gorakhnath constituency in Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar in BJD-ruled Odisha, banking on sympathy votes as it has fielded the sons of sitting MLAs whose deaths necessitated the byelections. The Gola Gorakhnath seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6.
• In Telangana’s Munugode, the BJP and the ruling TRS have been campaigning aggressively, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on the saffron party's ticket.
• In Munugode, although 47 candidates are in the fray, the main contest is between RK Rajagopal Reddy for BJP, former MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy of TRS and Congress' Palvai Sravanthi.
• The Election Commission has asked Telangana's chief electoral officer to keep a "close watch" on Munugode through "various enforcement agencies" amid allegations of attempts to induce voters.