Ghosi Assembly bypoll witnesses over 43 pc polling till 3 pm

More than 43% of the electorate in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi Assembly constituency had cast their votes as of 3 pm for the byelection on Tuesday, the first electoral showdown in the state after the formation of the Opposition’s I.N.D.I.A bloc. Voting began at 7 am across 455 polling stations and concluded at 6pm yesterday. The bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of Dara Singh Chauhan in July. Chauhan earlier won the seat in the 2022 Assembly polls on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket.
Following his resignation, he joined the BJP and was nominated by the party to contest the bypoll. The SP has meanwhile fielded Sudhakar Singh for the by-election. The Akhilesh Yadav-led party has alleged misuse of official machinery in the bypoll and has written to the Election Commission on the matter. It was alleged that Muslim voters were being prevented from exercising their franchise in some places.
The SP’s national executive member Arvind Kumar Singh wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner alleging that polling officers at booth number 147 were barring Muslim voters from casting their votes. “Despite their names being on the voter list, they were told to go back since their votes had already been cast,” he alleged. The letter claimed that when voters resisted, the police and polling officials “at the behest of the government are using abusive words to drive them away”. It is a criminal act to deprive any voter of his franchise, Singh said in the letter. It also alleged that a village head and a polling agent were being pressured to vote in favour of the BJP. Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak rejected the SP’s allegations, claiming that the Opposition party feared defeat. “The BJP will win the Ghosi bypoll. People are stepping out of their houses to bless the BJP with their votes. They (SP) made these allegations out of fear of losing the election. How can anyone cast their vote without ID? This election is being organised fairly.”
In 2022 Chauhan defeated BJP candidate Vijay Rajbhar by a margin of 22,216 votes. Ghosi had recorded a polling percentage of 58.59. Now he has support from NDA partners Apna Dal (Sonelal), Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) Party and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, a former SP ally. On the other hand, SP candidate Sudhakar Singh has received support from INDIA bloc constituents—the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, RLD, AAP, CPI(ML)-Liberation and Suheldev Swabhiman Party. The bypoll will have no bearing on the BJP government, which enjoys a comfortable majority in the 403-member state assembly. However, its outcome could be an indicator of what is in store for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to the 543-member Lok Sabha.A total of 10 candidates are in the fray and votes will be counted on 8 September.