Bypolls: BJP leads in 11 states

New Delhi: Counting of votes underway for bypolls to 58 assembly seats in 11 states. In Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP, which is leading on 20 of the 28 Assembly seats during counting of votes for By-Polls. The BJP appears to be in a strong position to retain power in the state.  The Congress leads on seven seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate leads on one.

BJP is leading with more than 51 per cent vote share while Congress is getting around 40 per cent votes. The BSP has an edge on one seat with around four per cent of votes.

The BJP has gained about 10 per cent more votes in these By-Elections in comparison to the 2018 Assembly Elections.

As per the current trends, Former Ministers Tulsi Silavat, Govind Singh Rajput, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Praduman Singh Tomar, Brijendra Singh Yadav, Imarti Devi, Prabhuram Chaudhary, Hardeep Singh Dung, Rajwardhan Singh Dattigaon, Suresh Dhakad and Bisahulal are leading in their respective seats.

At present, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 230-member Assembly and needs at least eight seats to stay in power. The Congress, on the other hand, needs to win all 28 seats if it wants to return to power.

In Uttar Pradesh, ruling BJP is leading on six out of seven seats which went for the Assembly By-Poll. Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla told AIR News that the counting is going on peacefully while adhering to all COVID Protocols and final results of the by polls can come by late evening.

BJP is leading on Deoria, Bangarmau, Bulandshahr, Ghatampur, Naugawan Sadaat and Tundla seats. Tough fight is going on at Naugawan Sadaat seat of Amroha district where initially Samajwadi Party was leading but now Sangita Chauhan, the BJP candidate and wife of former cricketer Chetan Chauhan is leading.

At Malhani seat of Jaunpur district, independent candidate Dhananjay Singh is leading and Samajwadi Party candidate is on second position. Barring Malhani, which was with the Samajwadi Party, the other six seats were held by Bhartiya Janta Party in last elections.

In Gujarat, the ruling BJP is leading in all the eight Assembly Constituencies where By-Polls were held. Former Gujarat Minister and BJP candidate Kiritsinh Rana is leading in Limbdi seat in Surendranagar district. BJP candidates are also maintaining their lead on Abdasa, Dhari, Gadhada SC, Karjan, Dang ST and Kaprada ST seats. BJP candidate Brijesh Merja is now leading on Morbi seat with a margin against Congress candidate. AIR correspondent reports that BJP workers have celebrated this stunning performance party at the State BJP headquarter in Gandhinagar.

By-Elections on the eight seats were held following the resignations of Congress MLS early this year.

In Manipur, the counting of votes for four seats of bye election is almost concluded. The ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is leading in three seats while an Independent candidate leading in Lilong assembly constituency.

The counting of votes for four seats of Assembly commenced from 8 A.M. this morning at the district headquarters of Thoubal, Imphal West and Kangpokpi. The BJP fielded three candidates including State Minister of Agriculture and Tourism O. Lukhoi in the elections and all the candidates are leading in their respective constituencies till the filling of this report. While the independent candidate Y. Antas Khan is leading ahead of the former State Minister Md. Adbul Nasir in Lilong Assembly constituency. BJP supported Md. Adbul Nasir who contested as an Independent candidate in this bye election.

The main Opposition party-Congress fielded candidates in all seats in this election while NPP fielded candidates from Wangoi Assembly constituency only.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) had announced By-Election for five seats of Manipur. However, the BJP candidate of Singhat Assembly Constituency got elected unopposed after the lone rival independent candidate in fray withdrew his nomination during the election process.

In Jharkhand, JMM candidate Basant Soren has won from Dumka by 6500 votes, while Congress candidate Kumar Jaimangal  has won from Bermo seat by a margin of 15000 votes.

In Nagaland, independent candidates are leading ahead of the major political parties as per the latest counting trends for By-Polls in the two Assembly constituencies.

Of the five candidates in the fray for Pungro Kiphire seat, an independent candidate T. Yangsea Sangtam has polled 6,880 votes followed by his nearest rival BJP candidate Lirimong Sangtam with 4,310 votes,

While, in Southern Angami-1 Assembly Constituency, Independent candidate Seyievilie Peter Zashumo has polled 2,214 votes followed by the ruling NDPP candidate Medo Yhokha with 1,192 votes.

In Odisha, the ruling Biju Janata Dal candidates are leading in both the Assembly Constituencies to which By-Elections were held on the third of this month. In the Tirtol Assembly Constituency, the BJD candidate Bijay Shankar Das has secured 25,287 votes as against 14,551 votes polled by his nearest BJP rival Rajkishore Behera. Similarly in the Balasore Sadar seat, BJD candidate Swarup Kumar Das is leading with 25,112 votes against 22,693 votes secured by his BJP rival Manas Kumar Dutta till the end of the seventh round of counting.

In Karnataka, BJP is leading in both the Assembly segments where a by-election was held on 3rd of November. In Sira, at the end of round 15, the BJP candidate Dr. C. M. Rajesh Gowda secured 43,684 votes and the Congress candidate T. B. Jayachandra was trailing by 1,765 votes, after securing a total of 41,919 votes. In R. R. Nagar, round 18 of counting is over. Munirathna of BJP is leading with a margin of 40,360 votes. He secured 92,864 votes against Congress candidate H Kusuma who secured 52,504 votes.

The counting for Legislative Council biennial elections to two Teachers’ constituencies – Bangalore Teachers’ and North East Teachers’ and two Graduates’ constituencies – Karnataka West Graduates’ and Karnataka South East Graduates’ Constituencies is also underway. The trends are yet to come for these seats.

In Telangana, BJP candidate Raghunandan Rao is leading by 2,667 votes over his immediate opponent S. Sujatha, of the ruling TRS party by the end of the sixth round counting in Dubbaka By-Election. The BJP candidate is maintaining his majority from the first round onwards.

The Dubbaka By-Poll was necessitated due to the demise of the sitting TRS MLA Ramalingareddy.  While 23 candidates are in the fray, the main fight is between BJP, TRS and Congress candidates. Dubbaka is the first By-Election held after the TRS resumed power in Telangana in 2019.