Description
Voting in all these constituencies took place on Monday. Vote counting for by-elections began on Thursday in one assembly constituency each in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and two assembly seats in Maharashtra. In the Tamil Nadu Erode East Assembly secondary polls, a total of 77 candidates from all political affiliations are vying for the prized Assembly constituency.
However, the secondary poll is basically seen between congressional candidate EVKS Elangovan and AIADMK's Thennarasu.
Elangovan challenged the election with the backing of the DMK, which is also Congress's largest partner in the ruling alliance.
After the recent Supreme Court decision allowing him to remain at the helm of the AIADMK, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has an opportunity to emerge as a great leader and reassert his control over the party if the outcome of the bypoll erodes its way.
However, the AIADMK faces fierce competition from the ruling DMK in the battle for the prized seat, with Naam Tamizlar Katchi (NTK), Desiya Morpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and several other players also in the melee.
Indirect voting became necessary after the sudden disappearance of Congressman Thirumahan Eveera.
In Maharshtra, secondary votes will be counted at the Chinchwad and Kasba Peth assembly seats.
A two-way fight between the BJP and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will decide the poll result for Kasba Peth, with the latter pitting Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar against the BJP's Hemant Rasane.
In Chinchwad, the race pits Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Vitthal Kate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ashwini Jagtap and independent Rahul Kalate. The by-elections were necessitated after the disappearance of BJP MP Laxman Jagtap from the Chinchwad Assembly constituency and Mukta Tilak from the Kasba Peth Assembly constituency.
The by-election for the Sagardighi assembly seat in West Bengal was necessitated after the death of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Subrata Saha in December 2022. The TMC and BJP aligned Debashish Banerjee and Dilip Saha. The leftist candidate for Congress was Bayron Biswas.
In the secondary polls of Jharkhand's Ramgarh assembly constituency, 18 candidates, including 14 independent candidates, are in the fray.
The secondary votes were necessary due to the disqualification of Congress leader Mamta Devi.
Congress nominated Mamta Devi's husband Bajrang Mahto and the Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party nominated its leader Sunita Choudhary.
In addition to counting for secondary ballots, counting for assembly elections is also taking place in three north-eastern states, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
