Bypolls to various Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Kerala, Tripura and Uttarakhand were held by and large peacefully on Tuesday. Election Commission of India (ECI) officials said no major untoward incidents were reported from the constituencies where polls were held. The counting of votes is scheduled on September 8.
Voting for the Ghosi Assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh ended amid allegations by the Samajwadi Party (SP) that the ruling BJP had misused administrative machinery. At 5 p.m., the EC recorded more than 49% polling. The high stakes bypoll is the first electoral contest in U.P. after the formation of the Opposition Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. The BJP refuted the charges made by the SP, and said the Opposition had already accepted defeat.
The bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of Dara Singh Chauhan, who had won the seat in the 2022 polls from the SP but joined the BJP recently. SP candidate Sudhakar Singh is fighting against Mr. Chauhan. Mr. Chauhan, an Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader, is banking upon OBC-Scheduled Caste (SC) unity to sail him through.
