The counting of votes for two Lok Sabha seats, Wayanad and Nanded, and 48 Assembly seats began at 8 a.m. today.
Wayanad, in particular, has drawn nationwide attention as it marks the electoral debut of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She is contesting from the seat formerly held by her brother, Rahul Gandhi.
The election in Wayanad was necessitated after Rahul Gandhi, who contested and won from both Wayanad and Rae Bareli in the last general election, opted to retain the latter.
Meanwhile, in Nanded, there is a direct fight between Ravindra Chavan of Congress and BJP’s Santukrao Hambarde. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress MP Vasant Chavan.
Bypolls for 46 assembly constituencies across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka went for bypolls took place on November 13 and 20.
Elections were held in nine assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh with an overall voter turnout of 49.3%.
The constituencies that went to the polls included Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur, and Kundarki. Ghaziabad recorded the lowest turnout at 33%, while Kundarki saw the highest at 57.7%.
The voter turnout percentages in other constituencies were as follows: Katehari (56.9%), Khair (46.3%), Karhal (54.1%), Majhawan (50.41%), Meerapur (57.1%), Phulpur (43.43%), and Sisamau (49.1%). This was significantly lower than the 61.03% recorded during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
A total of 90 candidates contested the bypolls in the state, with Ghaziabad fielding the highest number of candidates at 14 out of which 11 are women.
In Punjab, by-elections were held in four constituencies—Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), and Barnala. These polls were necessitated after the sitting MLAs from these constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha during the general elections earlier this year.
The results of bypolls for six assembly seats in West Bengal are poised to be a significant indicator of public sentiment, serving as a crucial test for the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The elections come against the backdrop of widespread protests over the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case, which has sparked public outrage and demands for justice.
Bypolls were also held for one seat each in Kerala (Palakkad) and Uttarakhand (Kedarnath), seven assembly seats in Rajasthan, five in Assam, four in Bihar, and three in Karnataka.
These elections will be a crucial indicator of public sentiment ahead of key state and general elections in the coming months.
KERALA
Vote counting for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat and the Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies commenced at 8 am on Saturday.
The counting of votes began with the postal ballots being taken up first.
Bypolls were held in Wayanad Lok Sabha and Chelakkara assembly constituencies on November 13 and in Palakkad on November 20, respectively.
Initially, the by-polls were to be held in all three seats on November 13, but the by-election in Palakkad was postponed to November 20 due to the Kalpathi Radhotsavam festival.
The initial trend emerging from the counting of ballots in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala on Saturday saw Congress-led UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the lead, with over 4 lakh votes according to TV channel reports with no word yet from the Election Commission.
The counting of votes polled commenced at 8 am with postal ballots being taken up first.
The strong rooms, where the EVMs were kept, were opened more than an hour before counting began.
The bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat was held on November 13.
In a major boost to the opposition Congress-led UDF, the grand old party retained the Palakkad Assembly seat with its candidate Rahul Mamkootathil winning by a significant margin of 18,840 votes, pushing the ruling Left bloc to the third spot.
Mamkootathil secured 58,389 votes as against BJP's C Krishnakumar who garnered 39,549 votes, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
LDF candidate Dr P Sarin, the former Digital Media Convener of KPCC who switched to the Left after the national party announced the candidacy of Youth Congress state president Mamkootathil, finished third with 37,293 votes.
Krishnakumar initially led the race.
However, Mamkootathil gained a narrow lead of 1,425 votes in the seventh round of counting and then on, steadily increased his margin in the subsequent rounds.
Ruling LDF candidate U R Pradeep won the Chelakkara Assembly bypoll in Kerala on Saturday by defeating Congress-UDF's Ramya Haridas by a margin of 12,201 votes.
Though there were six candidates in the fray in Chelakkara, the main contest was between Pradeep and Haridas.
WEST BENGAL
The TMC was ahead of its rivals in three of the six seats as counting of postal ballots for the West Bengal bypolls was underway, TV channels reported on Saturday.
The counting of votes began at 8 am.
The constituencies that went to the polls are Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, Taldangra, Sitai (SC), and Madarihat (ST).
Bengali news channel ABP Ananda reported that TMC was leading in Naihati constituency in North 24 Parganas and Taldangra constituency in Bankura.
Another Bengali news channel News 18 Bangla reported that TMC was leading in Naihati and Haroa seats.
The Election Commission, however, is yet to come out with any trend as of now on its website.
Five of these seats are in the TMC's stronghold in south Bengal, while Madarihat, which was won by the BJP in 2021, remains a saffron bastion in the northern part of the state.
The by-elections were necessitated following the resignation of MLAs who had won seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, leaving their assembly constituencies vacant.
TMC won Haroa by over 1 lakh votes in Bengal by-polls.
Trinamool Congress candidate Sk Rabiul Islam won the Haroa assembly by-poll defeating his nearest AISF nominee Piyarul Islam by 1,31,388 votes, the EC said. BJP secured the third position as party candidate Bimal Das got 13,570 votes.
ASSAM
Additional security forces were deployed outside the polling stations in Dholai, Samaguri, Behali, Bongaigaon and Sidli assembly constituencies Thirty-four candidates are in the fray.
The BJP contested three of the five constituencies- Behali, Samaguri and Dholai (SC), while its alliance partners AGP and UPPL put up candidates for Bongaigaon and Sidli (ST) seats respectively.
The Congress contested all the five constituencies.
Around 75.67 per cent of the total electors exercised their franchise in these five assembly constituencies.
BJP's Behali Assembly candidate Diganta Ghatowal won defeating the Congress' Jayanta Borah.
RAJASTHAN
Counting of votes for by-polls on seven assembly seats in Rajasthan began on Saturday at 8 am amid tight security arrangements as per an official of the election department.
Polling was held on November 13 in Jhunjhunu, Ramgarh, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Salumbar and Chaurasi. The results will be declared after counting today.
The counting of EVM votes of Jhunjhunu and Salumbar assembly constituencies will be completed in 22 rounds each, Ramgarh in 21 rounds, Deoli-Uniara and Khinvsar assembly constituencies in 20 rounds each, Dausa and Chaurasi in 18 rounds each.
KARNATAKA
Ruling Congress in Karnataka was ahead in all three -- Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur -- Assembly segments, as the counting of votes was underway on Saturday for by-polls held there.
In Channapatna, which witnessed a "high profile" battle, among the three segments, JD(S)' actor-turned-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is the son of Kumaraswamy and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's grandson, is trailing against Congress' C P Yogeeshwara by a margin of 24,831 votes, by getting 69,070 votes so far, according to Election Commission.
With only a few rounds of counting left for the Shiggaon assembly segment, the Congress continues to consolidate its lead. With the completion of latest round of counting, Yasir Khan Pathan of the Congress party was leading by over 4,400 votes against Bharat Bommai of the BJP.
However, former chief minister and MP Basavaraj Bommai, father of Bharat, stated that their party would gain the upper hand once the counting gets over.
As the counting began, Bharat maintained the lead in the eighth round, but the votes did not hit the margin. Once the ninth and tenth rounds ended, Pathan got the lead up to over 12,000 votes, but it receded in further rounds.
However, the leaders and workers of the Congress party are confident of their candidate's victory. If Pathan succeeds, it would be the party's win after the 1994 election and could end the drought of 25 years.
The Congress party successfully continued victory in the Sandur ST reserved MLA constituency. Bellary MP Tukaram's wife, candidate E Annapoorna Tukuram won by 9,105 votes after a tough battle between BJP candidate Bangaru Hanumanthu, BJP ST Morcha president.
A total 17 rounds of counting were conducted. Among 17, most of the time Congress maintained the lead and finally secured 88,727 whereas BJP trailed with 79622 votes.
With this result, BJP's dream of creating history will only be a dream that one wishes to wake up to. Meanwhile, Annapoorna had earlier faced family politics from the party workers but thanks to Minister Santosh Lad's strategy, Congress retained it's strong belt.
Channapatna saw the highest number of 31 candidates in the fray, followed by Shiggaon (8) and Sandur (6).
While Channapatna had recorded a voter turnout of 88.81 per cent, it was 80.72 per cent and 76.24 per cent, respectively in Shiggaon and Sandur, respectively.
BIHAR
Bihar by-elections saw more than 12 lakh voters deciding the electoral fate of 38 candidates in these four assembly seats -- Tarari, Imamganj, Belaganj and Ramgarh - in Bihar, amid tight security arrangements.
By-elections to these assembly segments were held on November 13 and the outcome is crucial for the ruling NDA, the INDIA bloc and newly floated Jan Suraaj party.
More than 12 lakh voters decided the electoral fate of 38 candidates in these four assembly seats.
All four constituencies fell vacant after MLAs representing these were elected in the last Lok Sabha polls.
The ruling NDA in Bihar swept the bypolls to four assembly segments, retaining Imamganj and wresting from the INDIA bloc Tarari, Ramgarh and Belaganj, receiving a boost ahead of the assembly elections due next year.
MADHYA PRADESH
The state saw counting of votes polled in by-elections to Budhni and Vijaypur assembly seats, where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress were the main rivals.
High voter turnouts of 77.85 per cent and 77.32 per cent were recorded in Vijaypur and Budhni, respectively, in the polling held on November 13.
The by-poll to Vijaypur was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat resigned and joined the ruling BJP.
He was later inducted as a minister in the Mohan Yadav cabinet.
Rawat contested against tribal leader Mukesh Malhotra of the Congress.
The Budhni seat fell vacant after sitting BJP MLA and former CM Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha in June.
The BJP stalwart was later inducted into the Union Cabinet and allocated the key agriculture portfolio.
Ramakant Bhargava, a close aide of Chouhan, contested against former state minister and Congress candidate Rajkumar Patel in Budhni.
Forest minister and BJP candidate Ramniwas Rawat lost by 7,000 plus votes to Congress candidate Mukesh Malhotra. The BJP has sought recounting.
In Shivraj Singh Chouhan's citadel Budhni, Chouhan's loyalist BJP candidate Ramakant Bhargava is leading by around 7000 votes.
MEGHALAYA
Counting is underway for the Gambegre bypoll in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district, officials said on Saturday.
The counting began at 8 AM, amid tight security, Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer BDR Tiwari told PTI.
He said 28 counting personnel have been engaged besides one supervisor and an assistant.
The counting for postal ballots is being taken up first, he added.
Polling for the bypoll took place on November 13 with over 90 per cent of the 30,086 voters exercising their franchise.
A total of 6 candidates are in the fray.
PUNJAB
Vote counting to Punjab's four assembly segments began at 8 am on Saturday amid tight security.
Bypolls to Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala took place on November 20.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and BJP are the main contenders in this bypoll with the Shiromani Akali Dal staying away from the electoral battle.
Counting will take place in 18 rounds in Dera Baba Nanak, 15 rounds in Chabbewal, 13 rounds in Gidderbaha and 16 rounds in Barnala, they said.
The bypoll had witnessed a voter turnout of 63.91 per cent.
The Gidderbaha segment saw the highest voting of 81.90 per cent, followed by Dera Baba Nanak at 64.01 per cent, Barnala at 56.34 per cent and Chabbewal at 53.43 per cent.
Among the key contestants in the fray are former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon (BJP), Amrita Warring and Jatinder Kaur (Congress), and Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Gurdeep Singh Randhawa and Ishank Kumar Chabbewal (AAP).
GUJARAT
Counting for the Vav assembly seat in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, where ruling BJP and opposition Congress were the main contenders, began on Saturday morning.
According to officials, the vote count for the by-poll held on November 13 commenced at 8 am at an engineering college in Jagana village.
Nearly 160 election officials and 400 personnel of the Gujarat police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed at the counting centre, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Gujarat has said.
A voter turnout of 70.55 per cent was recorded in the by-election.
Out of the 3.10 lakh registered voters, nearly 2.19 lakh exercised their franchise at 321 polling booths using EVMs and VVPAT machines.
The Vav seat fell vacant following the resignation of Congress MLA Geniben Thakor, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Banaskantha in June.
Congress candidate and former MLA Gulabsinh Rajput and BJP's Swaroopji Thakor are the main contestants, but the presence of BJP rebel Mavji Patel has made the bypoll a three-way fight.
Patel (73), who comes from the dominant Chaudhary community, was suspended as BJP's primary member on Sunday for his decision to contest as an independent candidate.
Seven other candidates - six independents and one from the Bharatiya Jan Parishad party - were also in the fray for the bypoll.
BJP's Thakor had lost from the seat, a Congress bastion, to opposition party candidate Geniben Thakor in the 2022 assembly polls.
The constituency has been a Congress stronghold, with Geniben winning the seat in 2017 and again in 2022.
Patel had won the Vav seat in 1990 as a Janata Dal candidate.
He then joined the opposition Congress, but switched to the ruling BJP in 2019 after being denied a ticket from Tharad seat in the 2017 assembly polls.
CHHATTISGARH
Counting of votes in Raipur City South assembly constituency of this state, where a bypoll was held on November 13, began on Saturday morning.
The vote count commenced at 8 am at the Government Engineering College at Sejbahar according to an official.
The ruling BJP and main opposition Congress were locked in a direct fight in this seat, where the by-election was necessitated after sitting BJP legislator and former state minister Brijmohan Agrawal resigned following his election to the Lok Sabha from Raipur parliamentary constituency.
The voter turnout in the bypoll for the seat located in Raipur district was 50.50 per cent.
Postal ballots will first be taken up for counting followed by votes cast in the EVMs, the official said, adding that the entire process will go on 14 tables in 19 rounds.
As many as 30 candidates were in the fray for the bypoll, though it was largely seen as a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.
The BJP fielded Sunil Kumar Soni, a former Raipur MP and ex-Raipur Mayor, while the opposition's nominee Akash Sharma, a young face, is the incumbent president of the state unit of the Youth Congress.
At the hustings, the BJP highlighted pro-women and pro-farmers measures taken by the Vishnu Deo Sai government, which included launching of the Mahtari Vandan Yojana under which married women beneficiaries are being provided a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000.
During its campaign, the Congress accused BJP candidate Sunil Kumar Soni of being inactive during his tenure as an MP from 2019 to 2024 and targeted the BJP government over the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state.
In the last year's assembly election, Agrawal had secured 1,09,263 votes in Raipur City South seat and won by the highest margin of 67,719 votes against his nearest rival from Congress.
In the assembly elections last year, BJP had registered a landslide victory winning 54 seats out of 90 in the state, while the Congress bagged 35 seats and the Gondwana Gantantra Party one seat.
