Polling has commenced for by-elections in 13 Assembly constituencies across seven states: Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday. The voting, which began at 7 am, will continue until 6 pm.
In West Bengal, the constituencies include Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda, and Maniktala. Uttarakhand sees polling in Badrinath and Manglaur, while Punjab’s Jalandhar West is also part of the by-poll. In Himachal Pradesh, constituencies such as Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh are involved, along with Rupauli in Bihar, Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu, and Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh.
Specifically in Himachal Pradesh’s Dehra constituency of Kangra district, candidates include Kamlesh (53) from the Indian National Congress (INC), Hoshyar Singh (57) representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and independents Sulekha Devi (59), Arun Ankesh Syal (34), and Advocate Sanjay Sharma (56).
In Hamirpur, BJP’s Ashish Sharma (37), INC’s Dr Pushpinder Verma (48), and independents Pradeep Kumar (58) and Nand Lal Sharma (64) are contesting. Meanwhile, for Nalagarh, candidates include INC’s Hardeep Singh Bawa (44), BJP’s KL Thakur (64), Swabhiman Party’s Kishori Lal Sharma (46), and independents Gurnam Singh (48), Harpreet Singh (36), and Vijay Singh (36).
These by-polls were necessitated after the resignation of three independent MLAs who joined the BJP, leading to vacancies in the Hamirpur, Nalagarh, and Dehra assembly segments.
In West Bengal’s Maniktala, BJP has fielded Kalyan Chaubey against TMC’s Supti Pande. In Ranaghat Dakshin, TMC’s Mukut Mani Adhikari is up against the BJP candidate. Bagdah sees TMC’s Madhuparna Thakur pitted against the BJP candidate, while in Raiganj, BJP’s Krishna Kalyani is contesting against the TMC candidate.
Punjab’s by-poll in Jalandhar West has AAP announcing Mohinder Bhagat as their candidate, while Congress has put forward Surinder Kaur. This seat became vacant after AAP MLA Sheetal Angural’s resignation, who has since joined BJP and is now their candidate.
These by-elections are crucial for determining new representatives in these constituencies following resignations and party switches.
