Counting of votes today to reveal fate of Priyanka Gandhi’s debut in Wayanad, UP by-elections

Bypoll 2024 results: Counting of votes for the by-polls to 46 Assembly seats in 13 states and Lok Sabha segments Wayanad in Kerala and Nanded in Maharashtra will begin at 8 am on Saturday.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s fate after her Wayanad poll debut will be decided today. She was nominated as the Congress candidate for Wayanad after her brother Rahul Gandhi, who earlier represented the Lok Sabha seat, vacated it after winning from Raebari in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Priyanka Gandhi faced the Communist Party in of India (CPI) veteran Sathyan Mokeri and BJP’s Navya Haridas.

Elaborate arrangements were made before the results were announced for the three Kerala bypolls — Wayanad Lok Sabha and Palakkad and Chelakkara Assembly seats.

Assembly bypolls in Uttar Pradesh were held in nine seats, while in Rajasthan bypolls were held in seven seats. In addition, there were six seats in West Bengal, four seats in Punjab and Bihar, five seats in Assam, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, three seats in Karnataka and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Meghalaya. for secondary surveys.

UP By surveys

In Uttar Pradesh, polling was held in Meerapur, Kundarki, Sisamau, Katehari, Phulpur, Majhawan, Ghaziabad, Karhal and Khair seats on November 20. While the outcome of the bypolls here will not affect the composition of the 403-member UP Assembly, the electoral contest is the first major clash between the ruling BJP and its rivals since the shock Lok Sabha election result. The BJP and opposition parties blamed each other for involvement in electoral malpractices.

Before the counting of votes, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav exuded confidence that his party would win the polls, while Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya stressed that the saffron party would emerge victorious.

Although the Congress did not contest the by-polls, it extended its support to the SP. The Bahujan Samaj Party contested independently for all the nine seats, while Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) named its candidates to contest from Kundarki, Ghaziabad and Meerapur. Chandrashekhar Azad-led Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) also contested all seats except Sisamau.

Rajasthan and Punjab Bypolls

A three-tier security arrangement has been deployed ahead of the counting of votes that have been cast in the seven Assembly polls in Rajasthan, an official told news agency PTI.

On November 13, polls were held in Rajasthan for Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Ramgarh, Deoli-Uniara, Salumbar, Khinvsar and Chaurasi seats.

Punjab Bypolls were held in Dera Baba Nanak, Gidderbaha, Chabbewal (reserved for SC candidates) and Barnala seats on Wednesday. The by-polls were necessitated after the respective sitting MPs were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.

The Punjab contest is a litmus test for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who has been in power for two-and-a-half years. Besides, AAP, Congress and BJP are also contesting the polls in Punjab.

Karnataka and Chattisgarh Bypolls

A fierce battle was fought between the ruling Congress and the BJP-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka, where polls were held for Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna Assembly seats on 13 November.

It is seen as a test for the ruling Congress as the favorable result would be a boost for both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar. On the contrary, a good performance by the BJP would be seen as a way to silence criticism of its state president BY Vijayendra within the organisation.

The Karnataka bypoll is a battle of prestige for JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy as his son Nikhil is testing his electoral fortunes from Channapatna after losing in earlier contests. The seat was vacated by Kumaraswamy after he was elected to the Lok Sabha.

In Chhattisgarh, counting of votes will also be done for the Raipur South Assembly by-poll, where polling was held on November 13.

The ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress fought against each other in a direct seat fight. The by-poll was necessitated after sitting BJP MP Brijmohan Agrawal was elected to the lower house.

West Bengal and Uttarakhand Bypolls

West Bengal’s Madarihat, Sitai, Naihati, Haroa, Taldangra and Medinipur Assembly segments went to polls on November 13.

Five of these constituencies are a Trinamool Congress (TMC) stronghold, while Madarihat is a BJP stronghold in north Bengal. In West Bengal too, the by-polls were called for after sitting MPs were elected to the Lok Sabha.

Notably, the Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front contested the polls separately for the first time since 2021.

Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district also went to polls on November 20. The Assembly seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MP Shaila Rani Rawat in July.

Besides, by-polls were also conducted in Sidli, Dholai, Bongaigaon, Samaguri and Behali Assembly segments in Assam and in Ramgarh, Tarari, Imamganj and Belaganj in Bihar. Gujarat’s Vav, Vijaypur and Budhni in Madhya Pradesh and Gambegre in Meghalaya were also up for polls.