55-90 per cent voter turnout in assembly bypolls, 65 pc in Wayanad

Jaipur/Wayanad — A turnout ranging from 55 to 90 per cent was recorded in the bypolls to 31 assembly seats in 10 states while in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, the polling percentage was around 65 on Wednesday with voting in West Bengal marred by sporadic incidents of violence in which a TMC worker was killed.

Voting was conducted in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya besides Wayanad. Votes will be counted on November 23.

The final turnout figures were yet to come in from several constituencies.

Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives.

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The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept.

In Meghalaya, a high turnout of 90.84 per cent was recorded in the lone Ganbegre seat in West Garo Hills district, chief electoral officer BDR Tiwari said.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s wife Mehtab Chandee Sangma (NPP), Jingjang M Marak (Congress), Sadhiarani M Sangma (Trinamool Congress), Bernard N Marak (BJP) and two independent candidates -“ Sengkrabirth Marak and Jerry A Sangma are contesting from the seat.

Former TMC ward president Ashok Shaw was killed in the shootout-cum-crude bomb attack in Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, where the voter turnout was last reported to be 69.29 per cent.

The killing of Shaw took place adjacent to the Naihati assembly constituency where bypoll was held.

Three attackers allegedly shot him and lobbed crude bombs around 9 am in full public view while he was having tea at a roadside shop.

Polling was also held in Taldangra, Haroa, Medinipur, Sitai and Madarihat seats.

In Madarihat, BJP candidate Rahul Lohar’s car was reportedly vandalised.

Tension also erupted at a booth in Sitai, Cooch Behar, following allegations that two buttons on an EVM machine was covered with tape.

A polling percentage of over 65 was recorded in the bypolls to the seven seats in Rajasthan – Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chorasi, Salumber and Ramgarh.

In the Deoli-Uniara seat in Tonk, Independent candidate Naresh Meena allegedly slapped Amit Chaudhary, sub divisional officer of Malpura who is engaged in the election duty as the area magistrate. Meena, a Congress rebel contesting as independent, also caught the collar of Chaudhary.

District election officer and Tonk collector Saumya Jha said voters in Samravta village had announced they would boycott polling. The village currently falls in Nagar fort Tehsil and the villagers are demanding bringing the village under Uniara Tehsil because the Uniara tehsil office is closer to the village.

SP Vikas Sangwan said adequate police force was deployed in the area and legal action will be taken as per norms. Meena was supporting the villagers who had declared the boycott.

Bihar saw a voter turnout of 52.84 per cent in the four seats – Tarari, Imamganj, Belaganj and Ramgarh.

The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made her electoral debut, saw a voter turnout of around 65 per cent. This was a decline from the close to 74 per cent turnout recorded in the polls held in April, when her brother Rahul Gandhi contested from the hill constituency.

Meanwhile, in the Chelakkara assembly constituency in Thrissur district, the turnout was 72.54 per cent.

A voter turnout of 50.50 per cent was recorded in the bypoll to the Raipur City South assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh. Thirty candidates are in the fray.

The Vav assembly seat in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district recorded an estimated turnout of 68.01 per cent.

In Madhya Pradesh, a turnout of nearly 74 per cent was recorded in the two seats of Vijaypur and Budhni.

An estimated 76.9 per cent voters turned in the three assembly segments of Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna in Karnataka.

In Assam, an estimated 72.96 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the bypolls to the five constituencies in Assam amid minor incidents of violence.

Bypolls were held in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri assembly constituencies as these fell vacant following the election of the sitting MLAs to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.

Police said there were minor incidents of violence in some places of Samaguri and Behali but those took place on roads or areas away from the polling stations.

Though polling was also scheduled for two seats in Sikkim — Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) nominees Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai have already been declared unopposed after their rivals withdrew from the race.