Rajasthan, WB Bypolls: 76% Votes Cast in Uluberia, 75% in Noapara
Catch the live updates from the byelections in Rajasthan and West Bengal.
Key Candidates in Alwar, Ajmer & Mandalgarh
Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha seats, and the Mandalgarh Assembly seat fell vacant due to the deaths of Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat, Alwar MP Chand Nath and Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari (all of the BJP) last year.
The BJP has fielded Labour Minister Jaswant Singh Yadav and former Union minister Sanwar Lal Jat's son Ramswaroop Lamba for the Alwar and the Ajmer Lok Sabha seats, respectively, while Shakti Singh Hada is contesting the bypoll as BJP's candidate from the Mandalgarh Assembly constituency in Bhilwara district.
The Congress named Vivek Dhakad as its candidate for the Mandalgarh Assembly constituency, former MLA Raghu Sharma for the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat and Karan Singh Yadav for the Alwar Lok Sabha constituency.
(With inputs from news agencies)
Bypolls in West Bengal
The elections were necessitated following the deaths of Sultan Ahmed, the sitting TMC MP from Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency in Howrah district, and Madhusudan Ghose, Congress MLA from Noapara assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district.
The contest for the Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency and Noapara Assembly seat in West Bengal is touted to be a two-pronged one between the TMC and the BJP, even as the CPI(M) attempts to gain ground in its erstwhile bastion.
According to the Election Commission, 35 companies of central police forces will be deployed to ensure free and fair elections in both the seats.
Uluberia a TMC Stronghold Since 2009
Uluberia is one of the Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal with a Muslim population of nearly 40 percent. The RSS and the BJP made inroads into the constituency following a communal flare-up at Dhulagarh, around 16km from Uluberia, in 2016.
The TMC, which has been in power in Uluberia seat since 2009, has fielded Sajda, the wife of sitting TMC MP Sultan Ahmed, whose passing necessitated the poll.
In the 2014 LS polls, the TMC had secured 48 percent votes in Uluberia, while the CPI(M) and the Congress bagged 31 percent and 5.71 percent votes, respectively. The BJP had bagged 11.5 percent votes.
In Noapara, the Congress had won the 2016 election as an alliance partner of CPI(M)-led Left Front, securing 79,548 votes. The TMC had bagged 78,453 votes while the BJP had managed to get 23,579 votes.
Contest Between CPI(M), BJP & TMC in WB
In Uluberia, the CPI(M)-led Left Front has nominated Sabiruddin Molla, while the Congress has fielded SK Madassar Hossain Warsi. The BJP is the only party to field a Hindu candidate – Anupam Mallik – from the predominantly Muslim area. Five other independents are also in the fray from the Lok Sabha constituency.
In Noapara, the TMC has fielded Sunil Singh, while the CPI(M) has picked Gargi Chatterjee. Goutam Bose of the Congress and Sandip Banerjee of the BJP are the other contestants from the seat.
Voting Begins in Rajasthan
Voting for the Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats has commenced, alongside polling for the Mandalgarh assembly seat.
Voting Begins in West Bengal's Uluberia
Voting for the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal by-poll has commenced.
Voting Temporarily Stopped at Booth No 231 in Uluberia
The voting machine in booth no. 231 stopped functioning, causing a brief halt in polling in the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat.
Bhupender Yadav Casts Vote in Ajmer, Former MoS For Youth Affairs Votes in Alwar
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav was spotted casting his vote at a polling booth in Ajmer’s Kundan Nagar.
Former Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Jitendra Singh was seen casting his vote at a voting center in Alwar's Moti Dungri.
Average Voter Turnout 5.35 Percent in the First Two Hours
An average voting turnout of 5.35 percent was recorded in the first two hours of voting in Ajmer, Alwar and Mandalgarh constituencies.
Alwar recorded a 5.42 percent voter turnout and Ajmer recorded 5.25 percent voting while the voter turnout in Mandalgarh Assembly constituency was recorded 6.42 percent in the first two hours, according to the office of the chief electoral officer.
There are 39,02,168 voters and 41 candidates in these three constituencies.
Uluberia Records 15 Percent Turnout, Noapara Records 17.5 Percent
Voting for the Uluberia Lok Sabha and Noapara Assembly bypolls began at 7am on Monday and the two constituencies have registered 15 percent and 17.5 percent polling in the first two hours, respectively.
37 Percent Voter Turnout in Rajasthan Till Noon
After two slow hours, voting picked up by noon in Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha constituencies and Mandalgarh Assembly seat in Rajasthan with over 37 percent of voters exercising their franchise in the by-elections that are underway.
Alwar Lok Sabha recorded 37.16 percent voting, Ajmer Lok Sabha recorded 36.54 percent voting, while the voter turnout in Mandalgarh Assembly constituency was 45.08 percent, according to the office of the chief electoral officer.
50 Percent Voter Turnout in Alwar, 61.75 Percent Have Voted in Mandalgarh
A total of 50 percent people had came out to vote in Alwar till 3 pm on Monday, while Ajmer had recorded 44 percent polling till 1 pm in the afternoon.
The Assembly seat of Mandalgarh in Rajasthan saw a 61.75 percent voter turnout till 3 pm.
The numbers shot up considerably, in all three constituencies, after a low voter turnout during the first two hours of the bypolls.
48 Percent Voter Turnout in WB's Uluberia Lok Sabha Seat
Voting picked up by noon in Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency and Noapara Assembly seat in West Bengal with the seats registering 48 percent and 55 percent polling respectively.
"Till 1 pm, 48 percent and 55 percent voting has been recorded in both the constituencies. The voting process is completely peaceful," a senior election official said.
Ajmer Man Casts Vote on Wedding Day
A groom came to cast his vote in Ajmer. He said "voting is my fundamental right and I wanted to exercise it on my wedding day.’’
Villagers in an Ajmer Village Boycott Voting
A group of villagers in Ajmer’s Manda village boycotted the bypolls. One of them said, “voting will not take place in the village until our issues related to water and roadways are resolved”.
Polling Concludes in Ajmer
Polling in the by-election for Ajmer’s Lok Sabha seat concluded at around 6 pm. The voter turnout stood at 65.33% by the end of the day.
West Bengal: 76.7% Voter Turnout in Uluberia, 75.3% in Noapara
Over 76 percent of the electorate in West Bengal's Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency and 75.3 percent in the Noapara Assembly seat voted in Monday's bypolls.
The polling was peaceful, an election official said.
"Till the end of polling at 5 pm, the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat recorded 76.7 percent polling whereas Noapara recorded 75.3 percent", the senior official said.
The seats are likely to witness a direct contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP, while the CPI(M) is trying hard to hold its ground in its erstwhile bastions.
Over 60% Voter Turnout in Rajasthan's LS Constituencies, 80% in Mandalgarh
Voting in bypolls for Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha constituencies and Mandalgarh Assembly seat in Rajasthan was held peacefully on Monday, IANS reported. While 65.3 percent voters cast their votes in Ajmer, Alwar saw a voter turnout of 62 percent and Mandalgarh of 80 percent.
Monday, 29 January, saw by-elections in three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies across Rajasthan and West Bengal, the results for which will be declared on 1 February.
- Eleven candidates in Alwar, 23 in Ajmer and eight candidates in Mandalgarh were in the fray
- While Rajasthan’s LS seats saw a voter turnout of ofer 60 percent, the Assembly seat recorded a turnout of 80 percent
- West Bengal’s Uluberia saw a turnout of 76.7 percent, while 75.3 percent of voters cast their votes in Noapara
- In a first, the polls saw the use of EVM machines with photos of candidates on them
- The by-elections of Uluberia and Noapara were necessitated by the deaths of the sitting MLAs
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