The counting of votes for the 13 legislative assembly seats spread across seven states began on Saturday morning. The polling took place on July 10 in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.
The constituencies included various seats like Raiganj and Ranaghat Dakshin in West Bengal, Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh, Badrinath and Manglaur in Uttarakhand, Jalandhar West in Punjab, Rupauli in Bihar, Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu, and Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh.
The main contenders were the BJP and Congress, with TMC and DMK also in the competition. Voter turnout ranged between 63% to 75% in Himachal Pradesh, where candidates like Kamlesh Thakur contested. In West Bengal, 62.71% turnout was recorded, with Mamata Banerjee’s TMC aiming to maintain its recent electoral success against a resurgent BJP.
Uttarakhand witnessed violence in Manglaur, yet saw a high turnout of 67.28%. In Bihar’s Rupauli, over 57% of voters cast their ballots, influenced by the resignation of MLA Bima Bharti. Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara, with a turnout of 78.71%, saw interest due to a former MLA’s switch from Congress to BJP.
Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu recorded an 82.48% turnout following the death of DMK legislator N Pughazhendhi. Punjab’s Jalandhar West saw a 55% turnout, with AAP, BJP, and Congress vying for the seat left vacant after an AAP legislator’s defection to the BJP.