Nagaland leads early surge in Assembly bypoll turnout with 19.80 pc, Tripura and Karnataka follow

NEW DELHI: 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 am, released by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday morning, Koridang (28) in Nagaland recorded a strong 19.80 per cent turnout, the highest among all constituencies reported so far. Following Nagaland, Tripura’s Dharmanagar (56) registered a solid 15.63 per cent turnout, placing it second in the early trends.

In Karnataka, turnout has been comparatively moderate with Bagalkot (24) reporting 11.87 per cent and Davangere South (107) trailed with 9.01 per cent. 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.

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 Minister S S Mallikarjun.

The BJP has fielded Veerabhadraiah Charantimath and Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Bagalkot and Davanagere South assembly constituencies, respectively. The Bagalkot seat fell vacant after the death of H Y Meti and Davanagere South, following the death of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.

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The BJP State Council Member Imchainba Jamir had withdrawn his candidature in favour of Imchen.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

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.

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)