New Delhi: Counting of votes for bypolls to seven Assembly seats across five states began Monday, with results expected to shape key political equations in several regions.
The bypolls were held April 9 and April 23 across constituencies in Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Tripura. The elections were necessitated by the deaths of sitting MLAs in the respective seats, leading to closely watched contests between major political parties.
In Maharashtra, the Baramati seat in Pune district has drawn major attention as it is considered a stronghold of the influential Pawar family. The seat fell vacant after the death of sitting MLA Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28. His wife, NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, is contesting from the constituency, making it one of the most high-profile contests in the bypolls.
In Karnataka, bypolls were held in Bagalkot and Davanagere South following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa. The contests are being viewed as a prestige battle between the ruling Congress and the BJP.
The BJP has fielded Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot and Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Davanagere South, while the Congress has fielded Umesh Meti and Samarth Mallikarjun respectively.
In Gujarat, the Umreth seat in Anand district went to polls after the death of BJP MLA Govind Parmar. The main contest is between BJP candidate Harshad Parmar, the son of the late MLA, and Congress nominee Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan, along with other candidates.
Nagaland’s Koridang seat in Mokokchung district saw a multi-cornered contest after the death of BJP MLA Imkong L Imchen. Six candidates are in the fray, including BJP’s Daochier I Imchen, who is also the consensus nominee of the ruling alliance, along with Congress, NPP and Independent candidates.
In Tripura, the Dharmanagar seat witnessed a triangular contest between the BJP, Congress and CPI(M)-led Left Front after the death of Assembly Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen in December. The key candidates include BJP’s Jahar Chakraborti, Congress’s Chayan Bhattacharjee and CPI(M)’s Amitabha Datta.
Meanwhile, the scheduled bypoll in Goa’s Ponda constituency was cancelled by the Bombay High Court just hours before polling was to take place.
IANS
