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New Delhi: The counting of votes for the by-elections to three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats in Delhi and five other states, held on June 23, will take place today. The political future of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and others is at stake in this by-election. Counting of votes will start at 8 am. First the counting of votes received by post will start and after that the EVMs will be opened. Security arrangements have been beefed up for counting of votes.
Tripura has the maximum number of four seats where votes have been cast in the by-elections. These seats include Agartala, Jubrajnagar, Soorma and Town Bardowali. Saha, who is trying his luck from Town Bardowali, needs to win this election to remain the Chief Minister. He is a Rajya Sabha member who took the oath of office and secrecy last month as the chief minister of the state following the sudden resignation of Biplab Deb.
In this northeastern state, the highest number of voters, 76.62 percent, have exercised their franchise in the polling conducted on Thursday. By-elections were also held in Rampur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and Sangrur Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab and votes were also cast on these seats on June 23.
Other states where by-elections have been held for the assembly include Rajinder Nagar in capital Delhi, Mandar in Ranchi district of Jharkhand and Atmakuru seat in Andhra Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh, there has been a need to hold by-elections in both the Lok Sabha seats because in the state assembly elections, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and party leader Azam Khan were declared elected. After this, both the leaders resigned as MPs from Azamgarh and Rampur respectively.
From Rampur Lok Sabha seat, Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who recently joined the party. SP has fielded Asim Raza, who is Azam Khan’s favorite candidate. The BSP led by Mayawati, who was the Chief Minister of the state, has not fielded a candidate from this seat.
There is a triangular contest in the Azamgarh seat of the state, from where the BJP has fielded famous Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’ in the electoral arena. Nirhua will be contesting from SP’s Dharmendra Yadav and BSP’s Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali.
Due to the resignation of MP Bhagwant Mann from Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, there has been a need to hold a by-election here. Mann was declared elected in the assembly elections held in the state this year, who was made the chief minister of the state.
Mann was elected MP from this seat in 2014 and 2019. After a landslide victory in the assembly elections, this by-election will prove to be a test of popularity for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the state. The election comes at a time when opposition parties are attacking the ruling Aam Aadmi Party over the state’s “worse” law and order and the killing of Congress leader and singer Sidhu Musewala.
The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Sangrur district in-charge Gurmel Singh as its candidate, while the main opposition Congress has given ticket to former Dhuri MLA Dalveer Singh Goldie. The BJP has fielded former Barnala MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon, who left the Congress and joined the saffron party on June 4.
The Shiromani Akali Dal has nominated Kamaldeep Kaur, sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the murder case of former and late Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann is also trying his political luck in this by-election.
After the disqualification of MLA from Mandar assembly constituency of Jharkhand, Bandhu Tirkey, there has been a need to hold a by-election here. A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation sentenced Tirkey to three years’ imprisonment on March 28 in a corruption case.
Congress has fielded Tirkey’s daughter Shilpi Neha Tirkey from this seat. Shilpi Neha is the joint candidate of Congress-JMM. BJP has fielded former MLA Gangotra Kujur in the fray. The RJD is also a constituent of the ruling coalition in Jharkhand.
Independent candidate Dev Kumar Dhan is also in the fray, who has the support of Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. In Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar assembly seat, the main contest is between Durgesh Pathak of Aam Aadmi Party and Rajesh Bhatia of BJP. Bhatia is a councilor from the area. Congress has fielded Premlata from here.
After the resignation of Rajinder Nagar MLA Raghav Chadha, there has been a need to hold a by-election here, who has been elected to the Rajya Sabha. After the death of Industries Minister M Gowtham Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, there has been a need to hold elections here. Reddy’s Anuj Vikram Reddy is the ruling YSR Congress candidate who is pitted against BJP’s G Bharat Kumar Yadav.
