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Polling ends in bypolls across 5 states with 69.85% turnout in West Bengal
The bypolls were held in constituencies in Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala.
Polling in five assembly constituencies bypolls across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Kerala ended peacefully on Thursday. Polling commenced at 7am and continued until 5pm and 6pm in some seats.
The bypolls in one seat each in Gujarat, West Bengal, and Punjab were necessitated by the deaths of sitting MLAs, while the elections in Kerala and another constituency in Gujarat were held due to the resignation of two legislators.
Vote counting is scheduled for June 23.
Bypoll in five constituencies:
West Bengal's Kaliganj seat: A voter turnout of 69.85 per cent was recorded till 5pm in the by-election to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency in West Bengal’s Nadia district, data from the Election Commission showed. Officials said that polling was largely peaceful except for a few isolated incidents.
"Polling has been peaceful. There was no report of any incident from anywhere in and around the constituency. Till 5pm, the polling was 69.85 per cent," an election official told PTI.
The by-election in the seat was necessitated after the demise of TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed in February.
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In the election, the ruling Trinamool Congress has fielded his daughter, Alifa Ahamed, a 38-year-old BTech graduate and corporate professional, as its candidate. The BJP has nominated Ashis Ghosh, while Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh is contesting with the backing of the CPI(M).
Kerala's Nilambur seat: The Nilambur assembly by-election in Kerala saw a voter turnout of 70.76% till 5pm, according to data from the Election Commission showed.
The bypoll was necessitated after the resignation of Left Democratic Front independent legislator PV Anvar, who later joined the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) after his acrimonious break-up with the ruling alliance.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded M Swaraj, the United Democratic Front (UDF) has fielded Aryadan Shoukath, while the BJP has fielded Adv. Mohan George is a candidate for the Nilambur Assembly constituency.
Gujarat's Visavadar and Kadi seats: A voter turnout of 54.61% was recorded till 5pm in the by-election to Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency, data from the Election Commission showed.
In Kadi seat, a voter turnout of 54.49% was recorded till 5pm in the by-election. The Visavadar seat was lying vacant since December 2023, after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.
The Kadi seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, fell vacant on February 4 following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki.
Punjab's Ludhiana West: A voter turnout of more than 49.07% was recorded till 5pm in the bypoll to the Ludhiana West assembly seat in Punjab on Thursday.
The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.
There are a total of 14 candidates in the fray and 1,75,469 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise -- 85,371 of them women and 10 belonging to the third gender.
