West Bengal by-polls: TMC's Shatrughan Sinha leads with over 1 lakh votes, Babul Supriyo with 12,000 votes

The counting of votes is currently underway in West Bengal's Asansol and Ballygunge, Bihar's Bochahan, Chhattisgarh's Khairagarh and Kolhapur North in Maharashtra.

New Delhi: The counting of votes for by-polls to Asansol Lok Sabha seat and four assembly constituencies is currently underway amid tight security. The counting of votes began at 8 AM on Saturday (April 16, 2022) and is being held in West Bengal's Asansol and Ballygunge, Bihar's Bochahan, Chhattisgarh's Khairagarh and Kolhapur North in Maharashtra.

West Bengal by-polls

In Bengal, the by-elections were necessitated as Babul Supriyo resigned as the MP of Asansol after switching over to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while state minister Subrata Mukherjee, who represented Ballygunge, died last year.

Around 66.42 per cent and 41.23 per cent polling was recorded in the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency and the Ballygunge assembly seat, respectively, in the elections held on April 12. 

All eyes are on Shatrughan Sinha, who has been fielded by Mamata Banerjee's party from Asansol. On the other hand, the BJP has nominated Asansol Dakshin MLA Agnimitra Paul.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has also fielded Babul Supriyo in Ballygunge, where he is pitted against BJP's Keya Ghosh and CPI(M)'s Saira Shah Halim. The Congress is also in the fray in both the seats. 

According to the latest trends, Shatrughan Sinha is currently leading with over 1,35,000 votes, while Babul Supriyo is ahead with more than 7,800 votes. 

Bihar by-elections

By-poll to the Bochahan seat in Bihar was necessitated due to the death of Vikassheel Insaan Party's (VIP) leader Musafir Paswan. The by-election was held on April 12.

Early trends show that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is currently leading on the Assembly seat in the Muzaffarpur district. RJD candidate Amar Kumar Paswan is leading by a margin of 11,620 votes against BJP candidate Baby Kumari.

While NDA fielded Baby Kumari, RJD offered a ticket to Amar Paswan, son of Musafir Paswan. Geeta Kumari, daughter of former minister Ramai Ram, contested on the ticket of the Vikassheel Insaan Party.

By-poll to the seat was entailed by the death of MLA Musafir Paswan, who had won on the ticket of VIP.

Chhattisgarh by-elections

In Chhattisgarh's Khairagarh, the by-poll elections were conducted on April 12 due to the death of Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) MLA Devvrat Singh. As per the early trends, Congress' Yashoda Verma is leading by a margin of 1,242 votes against his nearest rival Komal Janghel of the BJP after three rounds of counting.

Maharashtra by-polls

In Maharashtra’s Kolhapur North assembly constituency, the by-election was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav. It was held on April 12 in which 61.19 per cent voter turnout was recorded.

There are 15 candidates in the fray, and the main fight was between Congress, one of the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state, and the opposition BJP.

Jayashree Jadhav, the wife of the late MLA, is the Congress candidate, while the BJP had fielded Satyajit Kadam.

(With agency inputs)