Bypolls: Moderate to high turnout; sporadic incidents of violence

Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand Bihar and West BengalVoting time was from 7 am to 6 pm According to the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission EC Tamil Nadus Vikravandi assembly seat registered the highest polling percentage among the 13 constituencies and Uttarakhands Badrinath seat saw the lowest turnoutThe electoral exercise the first since the Lok Sabha polls will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhus wife Kamlesh ThakurBarring some incidents of violence in Bihar Uttarakhand and West Bengal polling went on peacefullyIn Uttarakhands Manglaur constituency four people were injured in a clash between supporters of rival parties at a polling booth Roorkee Civil Line Kotwali incharge R K Saklani told PTI that a report was received about the clash at booth number 5354 in Libbarheri in ManglaurSome reports claimed there was firing at the booth but police denied the reportsPurported videos of the clash showed Congress candidate and former MLA Qazi Nizamuddin taking a man in bloodstained clothes to the hospital He accused the BJP of throttling democracy by sowing seeds of hatred Another video showed him embracing an injured party worker at the hospitalViolence erupted at the booth when some people with half their faces covered started stopping people from voting sources saidWhile 6824 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in Manglaur Badrinath reported a turnout of 4980 per centThe Manglaur bypoll was necessitated by the death of sitting BSP MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari last October while the Badrinath seat fell vacant after sitting Congress MLA Rajendra Bhandari resigned and switched to the BJP in MarchIn West Bengal violence was reported in Bagdah and Ranaghat Dakshin assembly segments as the BJP accused TMC activists of assaulting its booth agents and stopping its candidates from visiting some polling stationsBJP candidates Manoj Kumar Biswas and Binay Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin and Badgah respectively claimed they were not allowed to visit some booths Manoj Kumar Biswas alleged that BJP camp offices in some areas were ransacked by the TMCBJPs Maniktala candidate Kalyan Chaubey faced protests and was greeted with go back slogans allegedly by TMC activists as he tried to enter a booth in the constituencyThe TMC denied the allegations and dubbed them as baselessThe BJP has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against these incidentsAmong the constituencies Raiganj witnessed the highest turnout at 6712 per cent followed by Ranaghat Dakshin at 6537 per cent Bagda at 6515 per cent and Maniktala at 5139 per centIn Bihar where bypolls were held for the Rupauli assembly seat two officials were injured when a mob attacked a police party in PurneaSub Divisional Police Officer Sadar Pushkar Kumar said polling was disrupted briefly because of the clash and a subinspector and a constable were injuredAccording to the state election office a voter turnout of 5725 per cent was recorded in the bypoll to the Rupauli seat down from 6119 per cent the constituency witnessed in the 2020 assembly electionThe bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti who had won the seat for the JDU several times in the past but quit the party recently to contest the Lok Sabha election on an RJD ticketEleven candidates were in the fray The JDU fielded Kaladhar Prasad Mandal who had contested the 2020 assembly polls from the seat as an Independent Former MLA Shankar Singh who recently quit the LJP Ram Vilas was also in the fray as an independentIn Himachal Pradesh the Nalagarh assembly constituency recorded the highest polling percentage of 7882 followed by Hamirpur with 6578 and Dehra with 6389The seats fell vacant after the three independent legislators Hoshiyar Singh Dehra Ashish Sharma Hamirpur and K L Thakur Nalagarh who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27 resigned from the House on March 22In Punjab the bypoll to the Jalandhar West assembly segment saw a voter turnout of 5130 per centAt many polling stations voters were gifted plantsThe ruling AAP fielded Mohinder Bhagat the son of former minister and former BJP MLA Bhagat Chunni Lal from the seat Bhagat had joined AAP after quitting the BJP last yearThe Congress bet on Surinder Kaur a former senior deputy mayor and fivetime municipal councillor in Jalandhar She is a prominent Dalit leader of the Ravidassia communityThe BJP fielded Angural who switched sides in March after quitting AAP He won this seat in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls on an AAP ticketBrisk polling was witnessed in the bypoll to the Vikravandi assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu with voters queuing up in large numbers at polling stations to exercise their franchise since the morning As per EC data 8248 per cent of voters exercised their franchiseThe bypoll was necessitated by the demise of DMK legislator N PughazhendhiIt is a triangular contest in Vikravandi with ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagams candidate Anniyur Siva alias Sivashanmugam A pitted against Pattali Makkal Katchis PMK C Anbumani and Naam Tamilar Katchis K AbinayaPolling was also held for the Amarwara ST assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh and the polling percentage recorded was at 7871 The byelection was necessitated after threetime Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah switched to the BJP in MarchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever