Voting begins for bypoll to Haryana's Ellenabad Assembly constituency

Voting for the bypoll in Haryana began on Saturday morning, officials said

Voting for the bypoll to the Ellenabad assembly constituency in Haryana began on Saturday morning, officials said.

Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, they added.

The bypoll was necessitated by INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala's resignation as MLA from the seat in January over the Centre's farm laws.

Over 1.85 lakh voters will decide the fate of 19 candidates in the fray for the bypoll.

A total of 211 polling booths have been set up, and 121 of these have been categorised as vulnerable and most vulnerable, the officials said.

Tight security arrangements have been made for the bypoll with the deployment of 30 companies of central security force, five companies of the Rapid Action Force and the Haryana Police.

Gobind Kanda, brother of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and legislator Gopal Kanda, joined the BJP recently and has 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 the candidate of the main opposition party.

Abhay Chautala, Beniwal and Kanda are being considered the key candidates.

A major part of the Ellenabad assembly constituency is rural with people mostly relying on agriculture.

Counting of votes will take place on November 2, the officials said.