Bypolls to 3 Lok Sabha, 30 assembly seats to be conducted today

The Lok Sabha seats where bypolls will be held are Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh

Bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 30 assembly seats in 13 states and one Union territory will be held on Saturday amid strict security and Covid safety measures.

The stakes are high for Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur as bypolls for Mandi Lok Sabha and three assembly seats (PTI)

The Lok Sabha seats where bypolls will be held are Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. Of the 29 assembly seats going to bypolls, five are in Assam, four in West Bengal, three each in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Rajasthan and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Telangana. The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

A look at the states where some of the seats are going to polls:

West Bengal

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are main contenders in the assembly bypolls at Dinhata in Cooch Behar, Santipur in Nadia, Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas.

Assam

Assam will see a direct contest between the ruling BJP and its allies, and the Congress in five assembly seats of Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur, Mariani and Thowra.

Meghalaya

Elections are being held in three seats – Mawryngkneng, Mawphlang and Rajabala – where the ruling National People’s Party and the Congress are in direct contest.

Bihar

A total of 17 candidates will be contesting the bypoll for two seats, Tarapur and Kushweshwar Asthan, in Bihar.

Karnataka

The bypolls for Sindgi and Hanagal assembly constituencies are seen as the first electoral test for Basavaraj Bommai, who replaced B S Yediyurappa as Karnataka chief minister on July 28 this year.

Himachal Pradesh

The stakes are high for Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur as bypolls for Mandi Lok Sabha and three assembly seats — Fatehpur, Jubbal-Kothkai and Arki — are being conducted before the assembly elections next year.

Rajasthan

The Congress and BJP are in direct contest in Dhariawad and Vallabhnagar assembly segments, whose MLAs, Gautam Lal Meena (BJP) and Gajendra Singh Shaktawat (Congress) died this year.

Telangana

An intense battle is expected between the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and BJP, the main contenders, in Huzurabad assembly constituency.

Maharashtra

The Deglur bypoll in central Maharashtra is a prestigious fight with BJP fielding Shiv Sena’s three-term MLA Subhash Sabne and the Congress nominating Jitesh Antapurkar.

Nagaland and Mizoram

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party in Nagaland retained the Shamator-Chessore assembly seat after its candidate was elected unopposed. The ruling Mizo National Front will take on opposition Congress, Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) and Bharatiya Janata Party, in the bye-election for Tuirial assembly seat.