NEW DELHI: The voter turnout for Saturday’s bypolls to the three high-profile Lok Sabha and 33 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 states proved a mixed bag, with West Bengal recording a high of 79 per cent and UP a moderate 53 per cent.
And the outcome of the bypolls, which has sparked considerable interest, will be known on Tuesday. It will be viewed in the context of Narenda Modi-led BJP-NDA Government’s performance and popularity.
The polling in the three key Parliamentary constituencies -- Vadodara (Gujarat) vacated by Prime Minister Modi as he retained his Varanasi seat, Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh), vacated by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, where his grand nephew Tej Pratap has marked his electoral debut and Medak in Telangana, vacated by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, where his party, the TRS, is locked in a straight fight with the BJP, registered 49 per cent, 56 per cent and 67 per cent voting, respectively.
The turnout was 53 per cent in the 11 Assembly constituencies in UP, where the BJP and its ally the Apna Dal are hoping to retain all of them. These were held by the BJP MLAs, who got elected to the Lok Sabha.
In the nine Assembly seats in Gujarat, considered a challenge for new Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, the polling was average at 49 per cent.
Four Assembly seats in Rajasthan saw a relatively higher polling per cent of 66, while a contrasting turnout was recorded in Basirhat Dakshin and Chowringhee in West Bengal, where the ruling Saradha scam-hit TMC is seeking to retain the two seats, with 79.59 per cent and 47.13 per cent, respectively.
Fifty per cent voting was witnessed in Antagarh Assembly segment in Maoist-hit Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, while the three Assembly constituencies in Assam, where the ruling Congress, is looking to recover some ground after the humiliation in the LS polls, recorded 70 per cent polling and over 87 per cent was the turnout in Tripura’s Manu seat.
A 68 per cent turnout was registered in Nandigama Assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh, where the ruling TDP is pitted against the Congress.