Assembly Bypolls: Nagaland sees highest voter turnout in early trends

Nagaland is leading in early voter turnout for the Assembly bypolls, with its Koridang constituency recording 19.80%. Tripura's Dharmanagar follows with 15.63%, while participation in Karnataka's two constituencies remains moderate.

Early Voter Turnout Trends

Nagaland has emerged as the early frontrunner in voter participation in the ongoing Assembly bypolls, recording the highest turnout among all constituencies, while Tripura and Karnataka follow closely behind.

According to early polling trends, as of 9:00 am, released by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday morning, Koridang (28) in Nagaland recorded a strong 19.80% turnout, the highest among all constituencies reported so far. Following Nagaland, Tripura's Dharmanagar (56) registered a solid 15.63% turnout, placing it second in the early trends. In Karnataka, turnout has been comparatively moderate, with Bagalkot (24) reporting 11.87%, while Davangere South (107) trailed with 9.01%.

Candidate and Constituency Details

Voting for by-elections in Davanagere South and Bagalkot constituencies in Karnataka, Koridang constituency in Nagaland, and Dharmanagar constituency in Tripura began this morning at 7 AM.

Karnataka

In Karnataka, Congress has fielded Umesh Meti from the Bagalkot constituency and Samarth Mallikarjun as the candidate for the by-elections to the Davanagere South seat. Umesh Meti is the son of late Congress leader Meti Hullappa Yamanappa (HY Meti), who represented the Bagalkot seat, while Samarth Mallikarjun is the son of Karnataka Minister SS Mallikarjun.

The BJP has fielded Veerabhadrayya Charantimath and Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Bagalkot and Davanagere South assembly constituencies, respectively.

The Bagalkot seat fell vacant after the death of HY Meti and Davanagere South, following the death of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.

Nagaland

In Nagaland, Congress' candidate T Chalukumba AO is pitted against veteran BJP leader Imkong L Imchen's son Daochier I Imchen for the Koridang seat bye-election. T Chalukumba AO had contested the 2023 Nagaland Assembly elections on a Janata Dal (United) ticket.

The BJP State Council Member Imchainba Jamir had withdrawn his candidature in favour of Imchen.

The Koridang (ST) seat in Nagaland became vacant after the death of veteran BJP leader Imkong L Imchen.

Tripura

In Tripura, the BJP has named Jahar Chakraborti as the party's candidate for the Dharmanagar seat, against Congress' Chayan Bhattacharjee. Amitabha Datta of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is also in the fray.

The seat fell vacant after the demise of Tripura Speaker and four-time MLA Biswa Bandhu Sen.

Schedule and Other Updates

The vacant assembly constituency in Goa was also scheduled to hold polling today; however, the Bombay High Court cancelled the Ponda bye-elections.

The results for the bye-elections will be announced on May 4.

The ECI had earlier announced the schedule for by-elections across eight Assembly constituencies in six states. Polling for bypolls in Umreth (Gujarat), Rahuri, and Baramati (Maharashtra) will take place on April 23, with the counting of votes to take place on May 4. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)