Bypoll results 2023: Counting for seven seats across six states underway

NEW DELHI,SEPT 8 : The results of bypolls for seven assembly seats in six states will be announced today. This election is viewed as a significant test for the opposition alliance in India as they face off against the BJP-led NDA.

As reported by PTI, vote counting is scheduled to commence at 8 a.m. at designated counting centres in these respective states.

The seven assembly seats where bypolls were held are Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Puthuppally in Kerala, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Dumri in Jharkhand, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura.

Dumri in Jharkhand

JMM candidate Bebi Devi was leading by 1,341 votes over her nearest AJSU party rival Yashoda Devi in the by-election to the Dumri Assembly seat.

After two rounds of counting, the JMM candidate, who is also the INDIA bloc nominee had secured 7,314 votes, while the AJSU Party candidate, an NDA nominee, got 5,973 votes.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, the state’s Education Minister, in April.

The JMM has fielded Mahto’s wife Bebi Devi as the candidate of the INDIA bloc, while the AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda Devi as the NDA candidate.

Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura

The BJP  was leading in both assembly seats in Tripura’s Sepahijala district where bypolls were held.

After four rounds of counting, BJP’s Tafajjal Hossain was leading by 25,478 votes in the Boxanagar seat. CPI(M) candidate Mizan Hossain was in the second spot.

In the Dhanpur seat, BJP’s Bindu Debnath was ahead by 14,384 votes after four rounds of counting. CPI(M)’s Kaushik Chanda was trailing.

Alleging large-scale rigging during the polling and inaction by the Election Commission, the opposition CPI(M) was boycotting the counting of votes.

The two seats are witnessing a one-on-one fight between the ruling BJP and the CPI(M) with the other two opposition parties, Tipra Motha and Congress, not fielding any candidates.

The by-election to the Boxanagar constituency was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque.

Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik’s resignation as the MLA of Dhanpur necessitated the by-election in that seat.

Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh strengthened his lead over his BJP rival Dara Singh Chauhan with a margin of 4,067 votes after the fourth round of counting in the Ghosi assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh.

while Singh has garnered 14,286 votes so far, Chauhan has got 10,219.

The Ghosi bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Chauhan, who had won the seat in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, from the Samajwadi Party in July.

Opposition UDF candidate Chandy Oommen is leading in the initial rounds of counting in the Puthuppally assembly bypoll.

Son of late Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy, he has been far ahead of his nearest co-contestants.

When the four rounds of votes were counted, Oommen got more votes than his nearest political rivals – the LDF’s Jaick C Thomas and BJP’s Lijin Lal.

Of the total 37,464 votes counted in the initial four rounds, the Congress-UDF candidate got 22,976 votes. Oommen retained the edge as the counting continued.

The voting for the seat, left vacant by the demise of Oommen Chandy, was held on September 5.

Congress snatched an early lead over the BJP in the Bageshwar assembly bypoll, with its candidate Basant Kumar leading by 195 votes over the saffron party’s Parvati Das.

At the end of the second round of counting, Kumar had garnered 4,554 votes while Das had polled 4,359 votes so far.

The seat was held since 2007 by the BJP’s Chandan Ram Das whose death in April this year necessitated a bypoll to the seat.

Dhupguri in West Bengal

BJP candidate Tapasi Roy is leading by more than 1,500 votes over TMC candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy in West Bengal’s Dhupguri assembly constituency.

-PTI