Bypolls: Voting starts at 31 assembly seats across India

Jaipur/Kolkata: Polling begins at 7 am on Wednesday for bypolls across 31 assembly seats in 10 states—Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Meghalaya.

The byelections are considered a significant test for Congress and the INDIA bloc, which struggled to present a united front in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats became vacant after the sitting MLAs contested and won in the Lok Sabha elections, while others became vacant following the demise of the representatives.

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

In Sikkim, bypolls were scheduled for the Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang seats, but both SKM candidates, Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai, have been declared unopposed after their rivals withdrew from the race.

In Rajasthan, bypolls are being held in Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar, and Ramgarh. In Salumbar and Ramgarh, bypolls were triggered due to the deaths of the sitting MLAs—Amritlal Meena (BJP) and Zubair Khan (Congress).

In West Bengal, the ruling TMC holds five of the six seats—Taldangra, Sitai-SC, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, and Madarihat—won in the 2021 assembly elections. The BJP previously held the Madarihat seat. In Assam, 34 candidates are contesting across the five seats—Dholai, Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon, and Sidli.

The INDIA bloc struggled to reach a consensus in Behali, with Congress deciding to field its candidate, Jayanta Borah, against CPI(ML) Liberation’s Lakhikanta Kurmi, who had been nominated as a united opposition candidate.

Gaurav Gogoi, Congress’ Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, campaigned for Borah, while BJP’s Diganta Ghatowar received support from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Meanwhile, Samaguri has seen an increase in violence, with attacks on BJP and Congress supporters and vandalism of poll offices. Both parties have filed complaints with the Election Commission.

In Bihar, bypolls are scheduled for the Ramgarh, Tarari, Imamganj, and Belaganj seats. In Karnataka, JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy is contesting from Channapatna, while BJP has fielded Bharath Bommai from Shiggaon to face Congress’ Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan. Bypolls will also be held in Sandur.

Madhya Pradesh will see voting for the Budhni and Vijaypur assembly seats. The Vijaypur bypoll was triggered by the defection of sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat to BJP, while the Budhni seat became vacant after Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha.

The remaining bypolls will be held in Chelakkara (Kerala), Vav (Gujarat), Raipur City South (Chhattisgarh), and Gambegre (ST) (Meghalaya). Though voting was initially scheduled for Wednesday in nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab, and Palakkad in Kerala, the Election Commission rescheduled these to November 20 due to the upcoming festivals.