Assembly bypolls 2023 updates: Candidates, voter turnout, and more

Dumri in Jharkhand, Puthuppally in Kerala, Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura, Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, and Dhupguri in West Bengal will be conducting by-polls today

On Tuesday, seven Assembly seats across six states will be holding by-polls. Dumri in Jharkhand, Puthuppally in Kerala, Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura, Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, and Dhupguri in West Bengal will be conducting these polls in light of the recent deaths of sitting MLAs and in some cases resignations.

 

Polling for the by-election for the Assembly seats began at 7 am this morning and will continue till 5 pm.

 

Results for the by-polls for all seven seats are expected to be announced on September 8.

 

 

Dumri, Jharkhand

 

The Dumri seat was vacated after the death of Jagarnath Mahto, who had been the Dumri MLA since 2005.

 

Candidates

• The JMM is now fielding Mahto's wife, Bebi Devi.
• All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) has nominated Yashoda Devi as the NDA candidate.
• The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will also field its 2019 candidate, Abdul Rizvi.

Voter turnout

More than 298,000 voters, including 144,000 women are eligible to vote across 373 polling stations.

 

As of 9 am today, 11.40 per cent of voters have turned up for the by-polls.

 

Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm.

 

Puthuppally, Kerala

 

The Puthuppally seat was vacated after the death of Congress's Oommen Chandy, a two-time Chief Minister and Puthuppally MLA since 1970.

 

Candidates

• The Congress, which leads the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Kerala government, has named Chandy's son, Chandy Oommen as its candidate.
• The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state, is fielding Thomas.
• The BJP has nominated Kottayam district unit president Ligin Lal to contest the poll.
• The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has nominated first-time candidate Luke Thomas.

 

Voter turnout

Around 176,417 voters are eligible to vote across 182 polling stations in the constituency.

 

By 11 am, 26.6 per cent turnout was recorded.

 

Voting began at 7 am.

 

Dhanpur and Boxanagar, Tripura

Two seats will see by-polls in the state of Tripura. Dhanpur is holding a by-poll since BJP's Pratima Bhoumik resigned to retain her Lok Sabha seat. Boxanagar constituency by-polls were necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque.

 

Candidates

• BJP is fielding Bhoumik's brother, Bindu Debnath, a local party leader for Dhanpur.
• The CPI(M) has nominated Kaushik Chanda for the Dhanpur seat.
• CPI(M) is hoping to secure Muslim-majority constituency with Haque's son, Mizan Hossain in Boxanagar.
• The BJP is fielding Tafajjal Hossain.

 

Voter turnout

There are 50,147 voters in Dhanpur across 59 polling booths and 43,087 voters in Boxanagar across 51 booths.

 

As of 11 am, Boxanagar recorded 40.49 per cent voter turnout and Dhanpur 39.48 per cent.

 

Voting began at 7 am today and will close at 4 pm.

 

Bageshwar, Uttarakhand

The Bageshwar seat will hold a by-poll following the death of BJP MLA Chandan Ram Dass.

 

Candidates

• BJP is fielding Dass' wife, Parwati.
• Congress has nominated Basant Kumar for the seat.
• The Samajwadi Party (SP) is fielding Bhagawati Prasad.

 

Voter turnout

The constituency has 120,000 voters across 188 polling booths.

 

As of 9 am, 10.13 per cent voter turnout was recorded.

 

Voting began at 7 am.

 

Ghosi, Uttar Pradesh

The Ghosi seat will hold a by-poll Dara Singh Chauhan resigned as the Samajwadi Party's Ghosi MLA to rejoin the BJP.

 

Candidates

• Dara Singh Chauhan will be contesting the seat as a member of BJP this time.
• SP is fielding Sudhakar Singh
• The BSP and Congress parties are not contesting the by-poll. Congress has opted is backing its INDIA partner, SP.

 

Voter turnout

The Ghosi constituency has 440,000 voters across 455 polling booths.

 

As of 9 am, 9.12 per cent voter turnout was recorded.

 

Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm.

 

Dhupguri, West Bengal

The Dhupguri seat was vacated after the death of BJP's Bishnu Pada Ray.

 

Candidates

• BJP is fielding Tapasi Roy, the wife of late CRPF jawan Jagannath Roy.
• Trinamool Congress is fielding Nirmal Chandra Roy, a professor at Dhupguri Girls College.
• The CPI(M) is fielding Ishwar Chandra Roy, a folk artiste.

 

Voter turnout

The constituency has 260,000 voters across 260 booths.

 

As of 9 am, more than 17 per cent voting was recorded in the by-election to Dhupguri assembly seat.

 

Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 6:30 pm.

(With agency inputs)