Bypolls 2023: Voting underway for Jalandhar LS seat, 4 assembly seats in Odisha, UP, Meghalaya

On Wednesday, voting for by-elections for the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency in Punjab, the Chhanbey and Suar assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, the Jharsuguda assembly constituency in Odisha, and the Sohiong assembly constituency in Meghalaya began under heavy security. Voter counting is scheduled to be held on May 13.

Jalandhar, Punjab
At Jalandhar, a four-cornered electoral battle is in the offing with the AAP, Congress, BJP, and Shiromani Akali Dal vying to outdo each other in the Dalit stronghold.

Amid tight security arrangements, voting for the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency began at 8 am and will continue till 6 pm, said officials.

There are a total 16,21,800 eligible voters, including 8,44,904 males, 7,76,855 females, and 41 transgenders in the constituency.

Nineteen candidates, including four women, are in the fray.

There are 1,972 polling stations in the constituency and 497 of them have been identified as critical, officials said.

A dedicated women-only polling station has been set up in all nine assembly constituencies, which are part of the Jalandhar parliamentary seat.

The Jalandhar Lok Sabha (reserved) seat fell vacant following the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary. He suffered a cardiac arrest during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jalandhar's Phillaur in January this year. The AAP has fielded former MLA Sushil Rinku who quit the Congress to join the Punjab's ruling party while the Congress has shown its faith in Karamjit Kaur, the wife of Santokh Chaudhary.

The BJP has fielded Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, a Dalit Sikh, who quit the Shiromani Akali Dal to join the saffron party. Atwal is the son of former Punjab Vidhan Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal who had also joined the BJP.

The SAD has fielded its two-time MLA from Banga seat Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who is a doctor. The SAD candidate is backed by its ally Bahujan Samaj Party. The Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has fielded Gurjant Singh. Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party is hoping to mark its presence in the Lok Sabha by registering a victory in the bypoll.

Suar and Chhanbey, UP
There is a direct contest between the ruling coalition and the opposition Samajwadi Party in the bypolls. Though the results will have no precipitative impact on the constitution of the assembly, it will be a morale booster for the victor before the Lok Sabha poll next year.

A total of 774 polling booths have been set up by the Election Commission at 492 polling centres in the two constituencies, while there are 6.62 lakh (3.51 lakh mail, 3.11 lakh female and 82 third gender) eligible voters. A total of 14 candidates are in the fray -- six in Suar and eight in Chhanbey.

The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to not contest the by-elections, while the Congress has fielded its candidate only in Chhanbey.

With leaders either campaigning in Karnataka or busy with the urban local bodies elections of Uttar Pradesh, the campaign for the two seats in Rampur and Mirzapur districts has been lacklustre.

The Suar seat in Rampur district, however, will be in focus as it was held by Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of senior SP leader Azam Khan, before it was declared vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced the young leader to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.

In the previous assembly also, the Allahabad High Court had in 2020 set aside his election for not declaring his correct age in the affidavit.

The Samajwadi Party is going all out in its attempt to defend what can be called its last citadel in Rampur while the Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of the ruling BJP, is leaving no stone unturned to breach it, especially after the saffron party managed to snatch the Rampur assembly as well as the parliamentary seats, both of which were Azam Khan's stronghold.

Azam Khan himself was disqualified from the Assembly last year after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case.

In the 2022 UP Assembly election, Abdullah Azam Khan had defeated Apna Dal (Sonelal)'s Haidar Ali Khan on the Suar sear by a margin of over 61,000 votes.

This time, the Samajwadi Party has fielded Anuradha Chauhan from the seat and Apna Dal (Sonelal) has named Shafeek Ahmed Ansari.

The Chhanbey seat in Mirzapur fell vacant following the death of Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol in February. The party has fielded Kol's wife Rinki Kol while Kirti Kol is contesting as the Samajwadi Party candidate. Eight candidates are in the fray for this seat.

In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the ruling BJP has 255 MLAs, and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the NISHAD Party have 11 and six legislators, respectively.

The Samajwadi Party has 109 MLAs while its ally the Rashtriya Lok Dal has nine. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party has six MLAs, the Congress and the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) have two each and the Bahujan Samaj Party has one member in the assembly.

Jharsuguda, Odissa
A total of 2,21,070 people are eligible to exercise their franchise in 253 booths. There are 1,10,320 male electors, 1,10,687 women and 63 of the third gender.

Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nikunj Bihari Dhal said all arrangements have been put in place to ensure peaceful voting.

Over 1,000 poll officials and an adequate number of security personnel, including seven companies of paramilitary forces, have been deployed.

Jharsuguda Superintendent of Police Parmar Smit Parshottamdas said that CCTV cameras and deployment of micro-observers and central forces have been ensured in 106 booths identified as critical, besides 30 as demanded by various political parties.

He said 19 platoons comprising around 570 police personnel, besides 100 officers, have been deployed.

Collector cum District Election Officer Aboli Sunil Naravane said this was the first time that webcasting was done in all the 253 polling stations.

The by-election was necessitated following the murder of sitting MLA and the then Health Minister Naba Kishore Das on January 29.

Though nine candidates are in the fray, the contest is mainly between the BJD, BJP and Congress.

The BJD has fielded Das's daughter Deepali Das, while the BJP has nominated Tankadhar Tripathy. The Congress has fielded Tarun Pandey, the son of late MLA Biren Pandey. All the three candidates are debutant contestants.

The bypoll gains significance as it is the last election before the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had campaigned for BJD candidate Deepali Das, while Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bisheswar Tudu had canvassed for BJP nominee Tankadhar Tripathy

Sohiong, Meghalaya
Voting will take place till 4 pm in 3,328 polling booths, of which 1,100 have been identified as sensitive and 28 as critical.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) F R Kharkongor said that more than 34,000 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election. Of the total electorate, more than 16,000 are men.

He said the by-election will take place in 63 polling stations to be manned by over 300 polling officials.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of UDP candidate HDR Lyngdoh ahead of the assembly elections held in the rest of the state on February 27. Polling to Sohiong was then postponed due to Lyngdoh's death. Votes will be counted on May 13.

Six candidates are in the fray. All of them are men. The nominees are Synshar Lyngdoh Thabah of the UDP, Samlin Malngiang of the NPP, S Osborne Kharjana of the Congress, Sandondor Ryntathiang of the HSPDP, Sereph E Kharbuki of the BJP, and Stodingstar Thabah of the TMC.

During the campaign, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Deputy CMs Prestone Tynsong and S Dhar and a dozen other ministers canvassed in favour of NPP candidate, listing the benefits of the NPP which leads the government.