Bypolls were held for one Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab and four Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and Odisha on Wednesday.
While the Sohiong Assembly constituency in Meghalaya registered an impressive polling percentage of more than 90%, voter turnout in the Suar and Chhanbey Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh was far lower, at just 41.78% and 39.51% respectively. In the Jharsuguda Assembly seat in Odisha, 68.12% of voters cast their ballots, while the turnout for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat was 50.27%.
MLA arrested
The byelection for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat was necessitated by the death of Congress Member of Parliament Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January this year.
A total of 19 candidates were contesting from the seat. While the Aam Aadmi Party fielded former MLA and ex-Congressman Sushil Rinku, the Congress candidate was the late Santokh Chaudhary’s widow, Karamjit Kaur. The BJP candidate was Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, while the Shiromani Akali Dal fielded Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi.
Though polling was by-and-large peaceful, Dalbir Singh Tong, the AAP MLA from the Baba Bakala constituency in Amritsar, was arrested for allegedly violating the model code of conduct. He was later released on bail.
Political newbies
In Odisha’s Jharsuguda, over 1.5 lakh voters exercised their franchise. The byelection took place after the seat fell vacant following the murder of sitting MLA and then-Health Minister Naba Kisore Das in January this year.
The Biju Janata Dal fielded Deepali Das, daughter of the murdered Minister, the BJP went for a youth face in the shape of Tankadhar Tripathy, and the Congress fielded Tarun Pandey, the son of late MLA Biren Pandey. All three candidates from the three mainstream parties are first-timers in electoral politics.
Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal said there was no report of any violation of election codes in Jharsuguda.
Pasmanda Muslim outreach
Both the bypolls in U.P. are a direct contest between the Apna Dal (Sonelal), which is an ally of the ruling BJP, and the Samajwadi Party, with both sides fielding relatively new candidates. Campaigning for both seats witnessed silent outreach, as top political leaders were busy with the urban body polls in the State.
In the Suar constituency in Rampur district, Apna Dal (Sonelal) fielded Shafiq Ahmed Ansari, a Pasmanda Muslim, which hints at the ruling alliance reaching out to this section of the Muslim electorate. The SP gave a ticket to Anuradha Chauhan. The bypoll was necessitated due to the conviction of Abdullah Azam, the son of the SP’s Muslim face Azam Khan.
In the other constituency of Chhanbey, the Apna Dal (Sonelal) fielded Rinke Kol, wife of the late Rahul Prakash Kol, whose death necessitated the byelection.
Crowded ballot
In Meghalaya’s Sohiong, the bypoll was necessitated as the United Democratic Party’s (UDP) candidate H.D.R. Lyngdoh passed away before the February 27 Assembly election. The six candidates in the fray were Synshar Lyngdoh Thabah of the UDP, Samlin Malngiang of the ruling National People’s Party (NPP), S. Osborne Kharjana of the Congress, Sandondor Ryntathiang of the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), Sereph E. Kharbuki of the BJP, and Stodingstar Thabah of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The counting of votes for all the bypolls will take place on May 13, on the same day as the vote-counting for the Karnataka Assembly election.
