Tag: Lok Sabha Bypolls

  • Voting low in Punjab for Sangrur bypoll, Tripura sees 76.6 per cent polling for four assembly seats

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Polling was by and large peaceful in the bypolls for three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi on Thursday barring an incident of stabbing of a policeman in Tripura, where polling was the highest at 76.62 per cent.

    In Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the turnout was below 45 per cent while it was 56 per cent in Jharkhand and 67 per cent in Andhra Pradesh. The final figures are likely to change.

    In Uttar Pradesh, where the turnout was 43 per cent in the bypolls to the Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of misusing power to disrupt voting.

    He alleged that though the Election Commission was informed about the developments, the election machinery remained a mute spectator. SP workers were harassed and undue pressure was created on them to vote for BJP candidates, he alleged.

    The turnout in Tripura for the by-elections to four assembly constituencies was an impressive 76.62 per cent. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Kiran Gitte said off-duty police constable Samir Saha was stabbed in Kunjaban area in Agartala constituency, adding he is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

    Opposition Congress demanded repoll in four booths of Agartala constituency, claiming largescale rigging, while TMC alleged that “democracy was murdered” in the name of by-elections. The ruling BJP exuded confidence in winning all the four seats — Agartala, Jubarajnagar, Surma and Town Bardowali.

    Chief Minister Manik Saha is contesting from Town Bardowali. He needs to win this election to continue as the chief minister. He is a Rajya Sabha member who was sworn in last month after the then chief minister Biplab Deb’s sudden resignation.

    The TMC, which is trying to make inroads in the state, alleged large-scale rigging by “BJP-backed goons”. Punjab saw a low turnout of just over 37 per cent in the bypoll to the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency.

    In a tweet, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann demanded from the Election Commission that the voting time be extended till 7 pm, citing that many people were still working in fields due to the paddy-sowing season.

    The Sangrur deputy commissioner-cum-returning officer and the state chief secretary also sought extension of polling time from the election panel.

    The poll panel pulled up the officials over the request, asking them to explain why they sought extension of polling time towards closing hours, saying it amounted to “attempt of unduly interfering in the election process and influence certain class of voters”.

    Over 43 per cent voters in the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency in Delhi exercised their franchise in the bypoll. The bypoll is largely being seen as a battle between a confident AAP and a spirited BJP. Nearly 67 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the by-election to Atmakuru assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh.

    Except some minor incidents, the polling went on without any incident of violence, serious complaint and interruption, State Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena said. In Battepadu village in Atmakuru mandal, Independent candidate T Sasidhar Reddy raised an objection alleging campaigning inside a polling station by ruling YSR Congress activists.

    He also alleged that the authorities were turning a blind eye to it and picked up an argument with police. Following intervention by senior officials, the issue subsided even as the polling continued unhindered.

    The BJP alleged that its polling agent was kidnapped from a polling station in Krishnapuram village but police denied any such thing happened. Police tried to disperse a mob of YSRC workers, gathered near a polling station in Padamatinayudu Palli.

    The ruling party workers initially resisted the police attempt but were later sent away from the scene. In Jharkhand, 56.03 per cent polling was reported in the Mandar assembly bypoll in Ranchi district. The by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Bandhu Tirkey as an MLA in the wake of his conviction in a corruption case.

    The Congress has fielded Bandhu’s daughter, Shilpa Neha Tirkey, as the common candidate of the JMM-led alliance, while BJP has nominated former legislator Gangotri Kujur. The bypoll to the Azamgarh seat in Uttar Pradesh was necessitated by the resignation of SP chief Yadav, who was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly as an MLA in the elections earlier this year.

    The Rampur seat was vacated by senior SP leader Azam Khan, who too was elected to the state assembly. In Punjab, the bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Mann from the Lok Sabha after he was elected as an MLA in the state assembly elections earlier this year.

    He had won the Sangrur seat in the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections. The bypolls in Agartala and Town Bardowali in Tripura were necessitated after Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha quit as BJP MLAs and joined the Congress in February.

    The Surma seat in Dhalai district fell vacant after BJP legislator, Asish Das, was disqualified by Speaker Ratan Chakraborty and bypoll to Jubarajnagar was necessitated following the death to sitting CPI(M) MLA Ramendra Chandra Debnath.

    In Andhra Pradesh, the bypoll is being held to fill the vacancy caused due to the death of then Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy in February. His brother Vikram Reddy is the ruling YSR Congress candidate and he is locked in a contest with BJP’s G Bharat Kumar Yadav.

    The bypoll in Delhi was necessitated in the wake of AAP leader Raghav Chadha leaving the seat after being elected to the Rajya Sabha recently.

  • Congress seeks eight points feedback of bypolls results from in-charges, state presidents

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Following the results of three Lok Sabha and 30 Assembly bypolls, Congress general secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal on Friday sought a report from the in-charge of all the election states and the state presidents for the reasons for the party’s victory as well as defeat.

    By-elections were held in 14 states and one union territory on October 30 of which the results were announced on November 2. The in-charge and the president were asked for a review report of defeat and victory on these points-

    The party sought review reports on eight points including — the reason of by-elections, selection of candidates, campaign and strategy, the impact of coalition, the influence of other opposition parties, the impact of bypolls results on the politics of that state, review of the election results of Congress and any other reason (if any) for the election results.In the recent bypolls in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Himachal Pradesh, Congress won all the seats including one Lok Sabha Seat and three Assembly seats.

    Congress swept the Rajasthan by-polls winning both Dhariawad and Vallabhnagar Assembly seats that went to by-elections. The Party won one Assembly seat in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka each. In Karnataka where there is a BJP government, Congress won the Hangal Assembly constituency, a seat believed to be the chief minister’s stronghold.

    Meanwhile, in states like Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya and West Bengal Congress’ performance remained poor. In Assam, Congress could not be able to win any seat and lost badly in states like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, BJP performed much better in these states.

    While in Bihar, the Opposition unity was at stake, as Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) who earlier fought the polls in alliance, contested the bypolls separately. Here, both the seats that went for bypolls was won by the ruling Janata Dal (United). Following the results, RJD blamed Congress for breaching the alliance principles.

  • Dadra Nagar Haveli win: Shiv Sena shows they can fight in BJP’s territory too

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena marked the historical victory in the Dadra Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha bypolls by winning the seat by 51000 votes against the BJP candidate. This is the first major win of Shiv Sena outside Maharashtra.

    Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut tweeted, “First step outside Maharashtra, a giant leap towards Delhi via Dadra Nagar Haveli.”

    First step outside Maharashtra, giant leap towards Delhi via Dadra Nagar Haveli ! #ChaloDelhi pic.twitter.com/8sbqBgSbna
    — Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) November 2, 2021
    Shiv Sena’s Kalaben Delkar won by 51,269 votes against the BJP candidate Mahesh Gavit. Dadra Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated by the death of independent Lok Sabha MP Mohan Delkar. Shiv Sena fielded his widow Kalaben, who bagged 1,18,035 votes aganst her closest rival Gavit, who got 66,766 votes. In 2019, Mohan Delkar won this same seat by 9,001 votes against the BJP candidate Natubhai Patel.

    Shiv Sena’s Pawan Kumar Pandey won from Akbarpur assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh in 1991 when Ram Mandir movement was at its nadir.

    READ HERE | Shiv Sena wins Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha seat in bypoll

    Sachin Parab, a senior journalist who closely follow the Shiv Sena and wrote books on Uddhav Thackeray’s grandfather Prabodhankar Thackeray said that Dadra Nagar Haveli victory of Shiv Sena will give them more power and voice to attack to BJP in the coming days. He said the union territory of Dadra Nagar Haveli is part of Gujarat with 30 per cent Marathi population. “Shiv Sena has shown that they can fight and defeat the BJP in their territory also. So there will be more political slugfest between Uddhav Thackeray and Narendra Modi- Amit Shah in future. This victory has also catapulted Uddhav Thackeray as centre politics and Sanjay Raut has also hinted in that direction as well,” Parab said.

    He said though Bal Thackeray created Shiv Sena’s base in Dadra Nagar Haveli, he could not reap success there — something his son Uddhav Thackeray has now succeeded in. “Besides, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Deglu victory has also consolidated the position of Maha Vikas Aghadi. They will strongly fight with BJP and win the seats. This defeat is a major setback to BJP. The morale of their workers will get down in Dadra Nagar Haveli as well in Maharashtra,” Parab added.   

  • Bypoll counting: Election Commission reminds its CEOs of ban on victory processions

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has reminded its poll officials that there is a ban on victory processions to prevent spread of coronavirus in states where counting is underway for Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls.

    Counting is being held for bye-elections to 29 assembly and three Lok Sabha seats.

    In a letter to the chief electoral officers of Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal and Dadra and Nagar Havelli and Daman and Diu where bypolls were held on October 30, the commission said that its instructions on banning victory processions, issued in April, would also apply on the latest set of bypolls.

    These instructions were issued to check surge in COVID-19 cases when counting was to be held for assembly elections held in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Kerala earlier this year.

    “No victory procession after the counting shall be permissible. Not more than two persons shall be allowed to accompany the winning candidate or his/her authorised representative (to) receive the certificate of election from the returning officer concerned,” the letter said citing the April 27 directions.