Bypolls: Voting in 15 seats begins on slow note across four states

Polling started on a dull note on Wednesday in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand.

Polling started at 7 a.m. in 14 seats and will end at 5 p.m. However, in Uttarakhand's Kedarnath, it started at 8 a.m. and will end at 6 p.m.

In Uttar Pradesh, nearly 10 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling across nine assembly seats of Katehari, Karhal, Mirapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki seats.

According to the Election Commission's update at 9 am, the average voting across the seats stood at 9.67 per cent.

Another EC update at 9.30 am showed the voter turnout as Ghaziabad (5.36 per cent), Katehari (11.48 per cent), Khair (9.03 per cent), Kundarki (13.59 per cent), Karhal (9.67 per cent), Majhawan (10.55 per cent), Meerapur (13.01 per cent), Phulpur (8.83 per cent), Sisamau (5.73 per cent).

While eight seats fell vacant following the incumbent MLAs' election to the Lok Sabha, polling in Sisamau is being conducted due to Samajwadi Party lawmaker Irfan Solanki's disqualification from the assembly after his conviction in a criminal case.

In the lone seat of Kedarnath, a turnout of 4.30 per cent in the first hour of polling.

The assembly seat in Rudraprayag district fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Shaila Rani Rawat in July this year.

There are six candidates in the fray, with BJP's Asha Nautiyal and Congress's Manoj Rawat seen to be locked in a straight contest.

Punjab recorded a voter turnout of over eight per cent in the first two hours of polling in the bypolls to four assembly segments.

Bypolls to the Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Barnala assembly segments were necessitated after the incumbent lawmakers were elected to the Lok Sabha.

A voter turnout of 8.53 percent was registered till 9 am, they said.

The Gidderbaha seat recorded 13.1 percent polling, Dera Baba Nanak 9.7 percent, Barnala 6.9 percent and Chabbewal 4.15 percent.

Forty-five candidates, including three women, are in the fray for the bypolls. A total of 6.96 lakh voters, including 3.31 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 831 polling stations.

Voting was yet to pick up in Kerala's Palakkad with 6.76 per cent of the voters exercising their franchise by 8.30 am.

The key contenders are Rahul Mamkootathil (Congress-led UDF), C. Krishnakumar (BJP-led NDA), and P. Sarin (CPI(M)-led LDF).

The by-election was necessitated after Congress leader Shafi Parambil resigned as MLA of the constituency following his election to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara during the general elections.

Votes will be counted on November 23.

The results of the bypolls, however, will not have any direct impact on the respective legislative assemblies.