Polling Pulse: India’s Assembly Bypolls Ignite Fresh Political Showdowns

The by-elections for five key assembly constituencies in Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Kerala were conducted peacefully on Thursday, a significant political activity following Lok Sabha elections. Voters had turned out in huge numbers, with a few of the seats witnessing high-voltage multi-cornered fights and application of new Election Commission features.

 

Key Highlights

 

Polling Details: The polling began at 7 am and went on till 5 or 6 pm, depending upon the constituency. The polling was largely peaceful with some stray incidents.

 

Voter Turnout:

Reason for Bypolls:

 

Sitting MLA's demise led to Kaliganj (WB), Ludhiana West (Punjab), and Kadi (Gujarat) bypolls.

 

Resignations led to the elections in Visavadar (Gujarat) and Nilambur (Kerala).

 

Major Contests

 

Kaliganj, WB: TMC fielded Alifa Ahamed, daughter of the late MLA, against BJP's Ashis Ghosh and Congress's Kabil Uddin Shaikh.

 

Ludhiana West, Punjab: AAP and Congress engaged in a high-profile contest.

 

Gujarat: BJP, Congress and AAP in a three-way battle in both Kadi and Visavadar.

 

Nilambur, Kerala: Four-cornered battle following CPI(M) factionalism with ex-MLA P V Anvar.

 

New Initiatives:

 

100% webcasting at nearly all the polling stations (1,353 of 1,354), which would be transparent.

 

Installation of mobile deposit facilities and enhanced reporting of voter turnout through ECINET App for real-time reporting.

 

Counting Date: They will release the results on June 23.

 

"Polls have been incident-free. There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in and around the constituency. Up to 5pm, polling was 69.85 per cent," an election official said to PTI. ".".

 

These bypolls are a major litmus test for national and regional parties, showing the trend for future state elections and capturing the mood of the polity following the general elections.

 

Source: Hindustan Times, NDTV, NewsOnAir, India Today, Indian Express, Financial Express.