View of the counting centre. (representative image)
Counting of votes will take place on Tuesday in three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly constituencies spread across 13 states and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, where bypolls were held on October 30.
INLD leader Abhay Chautala, Congress’s Pratibha Singh, wife of late Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, former national footballer Eugeneson Lyngdoh and former Telangana minister Eatala Rajendra, who left the Haryana Assembly in protest against the three new central agriculture laws, are prominent. The fate of the candidates will be decided.
In the assembly by-elections, five seats were held 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 in Andhra Pradesh. , Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Telangana.
Of the 29 assembly seats, the BJP had earlier won about half a dozen seats, the Congress nine, while the rest were held by regional parties.
The seats where Lok Sabha bypolls were held include Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. Sitting members were killed in all three Lok Sabha constituencies.
The Mandi seat fell vacant after the death of Ramswaroop Sharma (BJP) in March.
The by-election to Khandwa parliamentary constituency was necessitated after the death of BJP member Nand Kumar Singh Chouhan, while in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, it was due to the demise of Independent Lok Sabha member Mohan Delkar.
In Mandi, Pratibha Singh is pitted against BJP’s Khushal Singh Thakur, a Kargil war hero.
In Meghalaya, former national footballer Eugeneson Lyngdoh is contesting from Mawphlang on a United Democratic Party (UDP) ticket.
He is up against former Congress MLA Kennedy C Khairim and Lampharang Blah, a sitting member of the District Council (MDC) from the NPP.
In Haryana, a by-election was held for the Ellenabad assembly constituency after Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala resigned as MLA in protest against the Centre’s new agricultural laws.
Chautala, son of INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, is contesting against Congress nominee Pawan Beniwal and BJP-JP candidate Gobind Kanda, the brother of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and legislator Gopal Kanda.
It is a crucial contest for Chautala as Abhay Chautala won the 2010 by-election from Ellenabad when Om Prakash Chautala vacated the seat, and then retained it in the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections as well, when he was elected to the House. He was the lone MLA of INLD.
In the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency, seven-time independent MP Mohan Delkar’s wife Kalaben Delkar is contesting as Shiv Sena candidate against BJP’s Mahesh Gavit and Congress’ Mahesh Dhodi.
The Huzurabad assembly constituency of Telangana is witnessing a triangular contest between the ruling TRS, the opposition BJP and the Congress.
The by-elections were held in June following the resignation of Eatala Rajender after he was dropped from the state cabinet on land grabbing charges. Rajendra, who dismissed the allegations, had quit the TRS and is contesting on a BJP ticket.
The result is significant for the BJP as it aims to emerge as an alternative to the ruling TRS in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The ruling BJP in Assam has fielded candidates in three seats and has left alliance partner UPPL in the other two seats.
The Congress has fielded candidates on all five seats, while its former allies AIUDF and BPF are contesting on two and one seat respectively.
In West Bengal, TMC veteran Udayan Guha is looking to re-capture the Dinhata seat, which the BJP snatched from him in the April election.
The by-election was held following the resignation of Nisith Pramanik, who is now the Union Minister of State for Home, as he decided to retain his Lok Sabha membership.
The Dinhata and Shantipur bypolls are being seen as a prestige battle for the BJP, which is currently battling with an exodus of MLAs and senior leaders.
In Shantipur, BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar had resigned from the assembly.
In Rajasthan, by-elections were held due to the death of Congress MLA from Vallabhnagar Gajendra Singh Shaktawat and BJP MLA from Dhariyawad Gautam Lal Meena.
In Vallabhnagar, the ruling Congress party has given ticket to Preeti Shaktiwat, wife of Gajendra Shaktiwat, while the BJP has fielded Himmat Singh Jhala.
Congress has fielded Nagraj Meena against BJP candidate Khet Singh Meena from Dhariawad.
Both BJP and Congress are eager to win results, will give a message about their performance across the state Ashok Gehlot Government, which is facing challenge from the Congress-led faction Sachin Pilot.
In Karnataka, the bypoll was necessitated following the death of Sindgi JD(S) MLA MC Managuli and BJP’s CM Udasi from Hangal and would be the first electoral test for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who had replaced BS Yediyurappa.
Counting of votes will also take place in Andhra Pradesh’s Badvel seat, which was earlier held by the YSRC, Deglur in Maharashtra, which was held by the Congress and Tuiriyal assembly seat in Mizoram.
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