Assembly Bypolls: The electoral exercise, the first since the Lok Sabha polls, will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes, including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur.
Voting for bypolls to 13 assembly constituencies across seven states began at 7 am on Wednesday, July 10, and ended at 6 PM with moderate to brisk polling being recorded till noon and sporadic incidents of violence in two of the polling states - Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
The electoral exercise, the first since the Lok Sabha polls, will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes, including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur.
Bypoll Seats: The bypolls are being held against vacancies created either due to deaths or resignation of incumbent members. The assembly seats where bypolls are taking place are: Rupauli (Bihar); Hamirpur, Nalagarh, Dehra (Himachal Pradesh); Amarwara (Madhya Pradesh); Jalandhar West (Punjab); Vikravandi (Tamil Nadu); Badrinath, Manglaur (Uttarakhand); and Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Maniktala (West Bengal).
ALSO READ: Bypolls: Voting Begins For 13 Assembly Seats Across 7 States | Check Full List, Important Candidates
Latest Voter Turnout: As on 5 pm, the voter turnout was: 51.14 percent in Rupauli, 65.78 percent in Hamirpur, 75.22 percent in Nalagarh, 63.89 per cent in Dehra, 72.89 per cent in Amarwara, 51.30 percent in Jalandhar West, 77.73 percent in Vikravandi, 67.28 percent in Manglaur, 47.68 percent in Badrinath, 67.12 percent in Raiganj, 65.37 percent in Ranaghat Dakshin, 65.15 percent in Bagda and 51.39 percent in Maniktala.
Violence In Uttarakhand: Barring Uttarakhand and West Bengal, polling has been peaceful in the rest of the states so far. In Uttarakhand's Manglaur constituency, four party supporters were injured in a clash between workers of different political parties at a polling booth. Some reports claimed there was firing at the booth too. However, police denied the reports.
Videos From Uttarakhand: Purported videos of the clash on social media showed Congress candidate and former MLA Qazi Nizamuddin taking a man in bloodstained clothes to the hospital. He accused the BJP of throttling democracy by sowing seeds of hatred. Another video showed him embracing an injured party worker at the hospital and crying aloud.
(Viewer warning: Disturbing visuals)
Violence In Bengal: In West Bengal, violence was reported in Bagdah and Ranaghat Dakshin as the BJP accused TMC activists of assaulting its booth agents and stopping its candidates from visiting some polling stations. BJP candidates Manoj Kumar Biswas and Binay Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin and Badgah respectively claimed they were not allowed to visit some booths. The TMC denied the allegations and dubbed them as "baseless". The BJP has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against these incidents.