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Election authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the by-elections. The counting of votes for the single parliamentary and six assembly seats will be held on December 8, coinciding with the ballot count for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.
Bypolls in UP’s Mainpuri Lok Sabha and Khatauli, Rampur Assembly Seats
The Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-election was necessitated after the death of Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam’s daughter-in-law and Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav is in the fray from Mainpuri in a bid to retain his seat. To take on Yadav, BJP has fielded Raghuraj Singh Shakya, a former confidant of Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Singh Yadav. Dimple Yadav is the wife of SP president Akhilesh Yadav.
In by-polls to the Rampur Sadar and Khatauli assembly seats also in Uttar Pradesh, the contest is directly between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance is on the cards as BSP and the Congress are not contesting from the seats.
According to a statement issued by the office of Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer, 24.43 lakh people will exercise their voting rights in the bypolls.
This includes 13.14 lakh male voters, 11.29 lakh female voters and 132 third category voters, it said.
Voting will take place from 7 am to 6 pm at 3,062 polling booths located in 1,945 polling centres.
While the bypoll to the Mainpuri parliamentary seat is taking place due to the death of Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, in Rampur Sadar and Khatauli, the polls were necessitated after SP MLA Azam Khan and BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini were disqualified following their conviction in separate cases.
While Khan was disqualified after a court awarded him three-year imprisonment in a 2019 hate speech case, Saini lost his membership of the assembly after his conviction in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case.
The outcomes of the bypolls will not have any impact on the central or the state governments as the BJP enjoys a comfortable majority at both levels.
However, wins would provide a psychological advantage ahead of the 2024 general elections.
While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is hoping to demolish the key Samajwadi Party (SP) citadels after wresting Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats in June bypolls, the SP is keen to turn the tide with the public show of unity by Shivpal and Akhilesh, who declared that they have bridged their differences.
Bypoll in Rajasthan’s Sardarshahar Assembly Seat
Tight security has been put in place for the Sardarshahar Assembly bypoll in Rajasthan’s Churu on Monday where the Congress and the BJP are the main contenders.
The bypoll has been necessitated by Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma (77) who passed away on October 9 after a prolonged illness. The Congress has fielded Bhanwar Lal Sharma’s son Anil Kumar while the BJP has pitted former MLA Ashok Kumar for the bypoll.
Eight other candidates in the fray are Lalchand of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), Sanwarmal Meghwal of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Parmana Ram of Indian People’s Green Party and Independent candidates Subhash Chandra, Vijay Pal Singh Sheoran, Umesh Sahu, Prem Singh and Surendra Singh Rajpurohit.
Bypoll in Odisha’s Padampur Assembly Seat
The by-election to the Padampur seat in Odisha was necessitated by the death of BJD legislator Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha.
Officials said elaborate security arrangements have been made for free and fair voting. As many as 10 candidates are in the fray for the by-election.
The bypoll assumes significance in the wake of the BJD’s loss in Dhamnagar, its first such defeat since 2009, with many in political circles claiming that the result would also indicate if electoral scales were tilting against the Naveen Patnaik-led party ahead of 2024 state elections.
The BJD has nominated from the seat the deceased MLA’s daughter, Barsha, who is set to take on BJP’s Pradip Purohit, a former MLA, and Congress candidate and three-time legislator Satya Bhusan Sahu, among others.
Bypoll in Chhattisgarh’s Bhanupratappu Assembly Seat
The by-election in Bhanupratappur constituency, which is reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Tribes, has been necessitated after Congress MLA and Deputy Assembly Speaker Manoj Singh Mandavi died of a heart attack on October 16.
As many as seven candidates are in the fray for the bypoll, though it is largely seen as a direct contest between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.
The Congress has fielded Savitri Mandavi, wife of the deceased MLA, while the BJP nominee is former MLA Brahmanand Netam.
Sarva Adivasi Samaj, an umbrella body of tribal communities in Bastar, has also fielded its candidate, former Indian Police Service Officer Akbar Ram Korram, who is contesting as an Independent. Korram retired as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in 2020.
According to poll officials, there are 1,95,678 voters, comprising 95,186 males, 1,00,491 females and one third gender person. A total of 356 polling stations have been set up, of which 239 are in rural areas and the rest in the urban part of the constituency.
Bypoll in Bihar’s Kurhani Assembly seat
In the Kurhani assembly segment in Bihar, the success of JD(U) candidate Manoj Singh Kushwaha, a former MLA, will cement Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s position, while a loss may embolden his detractors.
The JD(U) is contesting the seat where the by-election has been necessitated by the disqualification of RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahani.
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