Nagaland maintains lead in Assembly bypoll turnout so far; Tripura stays second, Karnataka picks up pace

NEW DELHI: Nagaland continues to lead voter participation trends in the ongoing Assembly bypolls, retaining a clear lead as polling progresses into late morning, while Tripura holds firmly to the second spot with strong turnout numbers as of 11 am.

As per an official date from the Election Commission at 11 am, the Koridang constituency in Nagaland has recorded a significant 41.06 per cent voter turnout, the highest among all four seats. Tripura’s Dharmanagar seat is not far behind, posting a solid 33.51 per cent turnout.

Meanwhile, Karnataka has begun to witness a noticeable surge in voter participation compared to the early morning trends. Bagalkot has emerged as the leading constituency in the state with 27.83 per cent turnout, while Davanagere South has also improved considerably, reaching 22.01 per cent by late morning.

As per EC’s data at 9 am, Koridang (28) in Nagaland recorded a strong 19.80 per cent turnout. Dharmanagar (56) in Tripura followed with 15.63 per cent, placing second in the early trends. In Karnataka, turnout was comparatively moderate, with Bagalkot (24) at 11.87 per cent and Davanagere South (107) at 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 at 7 am on Thursday morning.

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 Karnataka Minister SS 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 HY 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 The BJP State Council Member Imchainba Jamir had withdrawn his candidature in favour of Imchen.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)