Assembly bypolls: High voter turnout in Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal seats; moderate in UP, Uttarakhand
Tripura at the top with over 89 per cent voting. The counting of votes is on September 8 for the by-election — seen as a litmus test for the opposition alliance INDIA against the BJP-led NDA ahead of the assembly polls in five states later this year and the 2023 Lok Sabha election.
The by-election saw the INDIA alliance putting up a united front in the Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where the voting was moderate at around 50.30 per cent, and in Jharkhand's Dumri where a total of 64.84 per cent of 2.98 lakh voters exercised their franchise.
Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, where the main contest is between the BJP and the Congress, saw 55.44 per cent voting.
In Dhanpur and Boxanagar seats in Tripura, where the Congress had extended support to the CPI(M), there was 89.20 per cent and 83.92 per cent polling respectively.
Six persons were injured in a stray incidents of violence in the northeastern state.
In Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala, where the INDIA bloc constituents were up against each other, the voting was around 76 per cent and nearly 73 per cent respectively.
Out of the seven seats, three (Dhanpur, Bageshwar and Dhupguri), were held by the BJP and one each by the SP (Ghosi), CPI(M) (Boxanagar), JMM (Dumri) and the Congress (Puthuppally).
In Uttar Pradesh, the Ghosi seat fell vacant after the resignation of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan, who rejoined the BJP.
While the ruling BJP-led NDA has fielded Chauhan, Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh has got the support of the Congress and Left parties.
Chauhan was a minister in the previous BJP government headed by Yogi Adityanath. He resigned from the Council of Ministers on January 12, 2022 and switched to the SP.
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