India bypolls witness moderate to high turnout

Elections were peaceful across the states except for some violent incidents in Kolkata's Chowringhee seat.

The three Lok Sabha seats where be-election was held are Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh), Vadodara (Gujarat) and Medak (Telangana).

Vadodara constituency, which was vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also underwent a by-election.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded Ranjan Ben Bhatta in Vadodara against Narendra Rawat of the Congress.

According top reports, 49 per cent turn-out was reported from Gujarat where polling took place in a Lok Sabha seat and nine assembly seats.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s grand nephew Tej Pratap Yadav, a Leeds University graduate, made his debut as the party’s candidate from Mainpuri seat, a constituency vacated by the SP supremo as he retained Azamgarh.

Besides, the states where by-election was held in assembly constituencies include, Uttar Pradesh (11), Gujarat (9), Rajasthan (4), West Bengal (2), Assam, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh-- all one each.

But the spotlight is  on West Bengal where by-election of two crucial seats- Chowringhee and Basirhat (South) - took place.

The Mamata Banerjee-led ruling Trinamool Congress’faced a strong challenge in these seats from BJP after its image was badly hit by the arrest of two of its party leaders in the multi-crore Saradha chit-fund scam. Several others connected to TMC are being grilled by the CBI.

In Basirhat (South) seat, BJP and TMC are fighting a keenly contested battle this time.

Supporters of both parties said they are confident of a win.

With the ruling party is under fire from political rivals over the ponzi scheme scandal, the opposition parties are smelling a chance to stage a comeback in the by-elections by harping on the issue of corruption.

As per media reports, some incidents of violence were reported from Chowringhee seat. Moderate to brisk voting took place in the state.

As per reports, 46 percent polling was reported from Chowringhee while 74 percent voters exercised their franchise in Basirhat (South) seat.

IBNS correspondent who toured the Basirhat South constituency found the polling peaceful.

Voting was held under tight security in Mainpuri, the lone Lok Sabha constituency that went to bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.

The voter turnout was lukewarm during the morning hours in the by-polls for four assembly constituencies in Rajasthan.

Around  40-45 percent voters exercised their franchise in Antagarh assembly seat in Chhattisgarh.

By-polls were held for the Medak Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana, vacated by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao after he became the first Chief Minister of the newly-born state of Telangana.

Apart from that, voting also took place in Nandigama assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh and Rangang-Yangang assembly constituency in Sikkim.

 The counting will take place on Tuesday (Sept 16< 2014). 

Image: A polling booth in Basirhat South assembly in West Bengal