The stage is set for by-polls to over 30 assembly constituencies across 12 states on Saturday with an acid test ready to be conducted for national, opposition and local parties that have fielded their candidates to fill the vacant seats.
The Election Commission has ordered strict maintenance of COVID-19 guidelines during the by-elections to all the seats that fell vacant due to various reasons, including the demise of office-bearers for coronavirus.
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The following states will witness by-elections in one or more seats on Saturday:
West Bengal
Four assembly constituencies in West Bengal are going to by-polls on Saturday (October 30) amid tight security and maintenance of COVID protocols. All eyes will be on Dinhata as TMC heavyweight Udayan Guha is looking to reclaim the seat, which the BJP had snatched from him by a whisker in the April elections. Guha, a two-time MLA, had bagged the seat for Forward Bloc in 2011 and the TMC in 2016. He is up against BJP’s Ashok Mandal, who had defeated him in 2006 as a TMC candidate.
The other three seats, where by-elections will be held on October 30 are Santipur in Nadia district, Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas.
Bypolls to Dinhata and Santipur are prestige battles for the saffron party, which is currently grappling with exodus of MLAs and senior leaders. The other two seats, however, fell vacant following the death of the winning candidates.
Himachal Pradesh
Bypolls for Mandi Lok Sabha and Arki, Fatehpur, and Jubbal-Kotkhai Vidhan Sabha seats will be held on Saturday. According to the local Congress and BJP leaders, the results of the polls are likely to impact the assembly elections scheduled to be held in December next year. The Mandi Lok Sabha seat comprises 17 Assembly segments.
Haryana
The bypoll to the Ellenabad Assembly constituency in Haryana’s Sirsa district on Saturday is all set to witness a triangular contest, with opposition INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala, whose resignation over the farm laws issue necessitated the election, eyeing another win.
The bypoll will be held on October 30 and the counting will take place on November 2.
Gobind Kanda, brother of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and legislator Gopal Kanda, had joined the BJP recently and had been fielded by the BJP-JJP combine. Pawan Beniwal, who had unsuccessfully contested the previous assembly poll against Abhay Chautala, recently switched over from the BJP to the Congress. He is in the fray as candidate of the main opposition party.
Abhay Chautala’s resignation in January over the farm laws issue had necessitated the bypolls to the rural constituency falling in Sirsa district.
The Baroda seat in Sonipat district had fallen vacant after the demise of Congress MLA Sri Krishan Hooda.
Rajasthan
Bypolls to two assembly seats in Rajasthan’s Vallabhnagar and Dhariawad will be conducted on Saturday. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm at 638 polling booths in both the assembly constituencies and counting of votes will take place on November 2.
Though the number of constituencies going to bypolls is not crucial from the viewpoint of the government’s stability but the results will send a message across the state about the performance of the government, which had faced a major threat last year due to rebellion of the then deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs led by him. In election rallies on Tuesday, Gehlot had appealed to voters to vote for Congress saying it is necessary to strengthen the government.
Madhya Pradesh
Four seats – Raigaon, Prithvipur, Jobat, Khandwa – are going for bypolls on Saturday. The high-decibel campaign for the bypolls to four constituencies, including one Lok Sabha seat and three Assembly segments, where 55 candidates are in the fray in the straight contest between ruling BJP and opposition Congress, ended on Wednesday evening. The counting of votes will be taken up on November 2.
Assam
Bye-elections for five assembly constituencies Thowra, Mariani, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur and Gossaigaon will be held on October 30. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress are the main contenders for the five assembly seats in Assam
Maharashtra
Only one constituency, Deglur in Nanded district, will be going to polls on Saturday. While the Congress has fielded Jitesh Antapurkar, son of Raosaheb Antapurkar, whose death necessitated the polls. Meanwhile, the BJP has nominated former Shiv Sena legislator Subhash Sabne.
Meghalaya
Three bye-elections are due on Saturday in Rajabala, Mawphlang and Mawryngkneng seats. In Meghalaya, the National People’s Party (NPP) headed by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and the Congress fielded candidates in all the three seats, the BJP, which is a constituent of the NPP-dominated Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), has fielded candidate in Rajabala.
Mizoram
In Mizoram, the bypoll to the Tuirial was necessitated following the death of sitting Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) legislator Andrew H. Thangliana.
According to Mizoram’s Joint Chief Electoral Officer David L. Pachuau, 18,582 voters, including 9,095 women, are eligible to exercise their franchise.
There are four candidates in the fray – K. Laldawngliana of the ruling Mizo National Front, Laltlanmawia of the ZPM, Chalrosanga Ralte of the Congress and the BJP’s K. Laldinthara.
Karnataka
Hanagal and Sindgi constituencies will witness bye-polls on October 30. The bypolls is widely being seen as a prestige issue and the first electoral test for the new BJP Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai, who replaced veteran leader B S Yediyurappa.
Telangana
A bye-election to Telangana’s Huzurabad assembly constituency has been necessitated by the resignation of the former health minister, Rajender, who was sacked from his post in the state Cabinet on May 1 over accusations of land grabbing by one of his own firms.
Bihar
The poll body will conduct assembly bye-elections at Tarapur (Munger) and Kusheshwar Sthan (Darbhanga) in Bihar. The seats fell vacant after the demise of MLAs Shashi Bhushan Hazari (Kusheshwar Sthan) and Mewalal Choudhary (Tarapur), both from the JD(U).
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