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Punjab: Counting of votes for Tarn Taran bypoll begins

Counting of votes for the Tarn Taran assembly bypoll in Punjab began at 8 am on Friday.

Polling for the seat was held on Tuesday, which saw a voter turnout of 60.95 per cent.

The Tarn Taran assembly seat fell vacant after the death of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June.

Tight security arrangements have been made at a counting centre set up at the International College of Nursing in Piddi.

The counting will be completed in 16 rounds, officials said.

AAP fielded Harmeet Singh Sandhu, a three-time MLA from Tarn Taran, who joined the party in July. Sandhu was elected as an Independent in 2002 and as a Shiromani Akali Dal candidate in 2007 and 2012. He lost the seat in 2017 and 2022.

The Congress has fielded its Tarn Taran district unit chief Karanbir Singh Burj, an agriculturist and real estate businessman.

The BJP's candidate is its Tarn Taran district president Harjit Singh Sandhu.

The Shiromani Akali Dal's nominee is Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, who is a retired government school principal and wife of a 'Dharmi Fauji' -- a term used for Sikh soldiers who deserted the Army after Operation Blue Star in 1984.

Independent candidate Mandeep Singh, brother of Sandeep Singh alias Sunny, an accused in the 2022 murder of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri, was also in the fray.

Vote counting begins for Nuapada assembly bypoll in Odisha

The counting of votes for the Nuapada assembly bypoll in Odisha began at 8 am on Friday under a three-tier security arrangement, an official said.

District Election Officer (DEO)-cum-Nuapada Collector Madhusudan Dash said the counting of postal ballots was underway.

The counting of votes in EVMs will start from 8.30 am at 14 tables.

There will be 26 rounds of vote counting, he said.

The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8.

The Nuapada by-election has achieved an outstanding voter turnout of 83.45 per cent, which was the highest among the eight bypolls held in India on November 11.

As many as 14 candidates are in the fray.

Latest leads

NDA: 86

Mahagathbandhan: 57

J-K: Counting begins for Budgam assembly bypoll

The counting of votes for bypoll in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam began at 8 am on Friday, officials said.

The counting, which would decide the fate of 17 candidates, is taking place at the Government Higher Secondary School in Budgam, they said.

All arrangements have been put in place for the smooth conduct of the exercise, officials added.

Over 50 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the bypoll held on Tuesday.

The final voting percentage was 50.01 per cent.

The Budgam assembly constituency had around 1.26 registered voters.

The bypoll in the assembly constituency was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the seat after winning from both Budgam and Ganderbal in the assembly elections last year. Abdullah chose his family bastion of Ganderbal.

There were 17 candidates in the fray, with Aga Syed Mehmood of the ruling National Conference facing a stiff challenge from the PDP's (Peoples Democratic Party) Aga Muntazir.

Besides the two Shia leaders, other key candidates included the BJP's Syed Mohsin, Awami Ittehad Party's Nazir Ahmad Khan, Aam Aadmi Party's Deeba Khan, and independent candidate Muntazir Mohiuddin.

NDA maintains lead

Leads

NDA: 85

Mahagathbandhan: 56

Latest leads

NDA - 73

Mahagathbandhan - 51

NDA takes early lead

As per latest trends, NDA is leading in 38 seats while Mahagathbandhan ahead in 24.

Mizoram: Counting of votes for Dampa bypoll begins

The counting of votes polled in the by-election to the Dampa assembly seat in Mizoram's Mamit district began on Friday morning, amid tight security arrangements, an official said.

The counting began at 8 am at the Mamit deputy commissioner complex.

District Election Officer Lalnunfela Chawngthu said postal ballots were being counted first, and then the votes cast in EVMs will be taken up.

There will be five rounds of counting.

"There is only one counting hall and nine counting tables, including one for postal ballots, and each counting table will be monitored by a supervisor and two assistants," he said.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of incumbent MNF legislator Lalrintluanga Sailo in July.

Polling for the Dampa assembly seat was held peacefully on Tuesday with 83.07 per cent of the 20,888 eligible voters exercising their franchise in the bypoll.

Five candidates of the ruling Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), the main opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), Congress, BJP and the People's Conference (PC) party are in the fray. 

Jharkhand: Counting of votes begins for Ghatshila bypoll

The counting of votes for the Ghatshila bypoll in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district began on Friday morning, amid tight security arrangements, an official said.

The counting commenced at 8 am at the Jamshedpur Cooperative College, he said.

A 74.63 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the bypoll on November 11.

East Singhbhum District Election Officer (DEO)-cum-Deputy Commissioner (DC) Karn Satyarthi said the counting started with postal ballots, followed by EVMs.

A total of 20 rounds of counting will be conducted on 19 tables, he said.

Thirteen candidates are in the fray, but the main contest is likely to be between Somesh Chandra Soren of the JMM and the BJP's Babulal Soren, son of former chief minister Champai Soren.

Somesh is the son of JMM MLA Ramdas Soren, whose death on August 15 necessitated the bypoll.

Hyderabad: Counting of votes begins for Jubilee Hills bypoll

The Jubilee Hills seat fell vacant following the demise of sitting BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath; by-elections were held on November 11.