Counting of Votes in Erode East, Pune, Ramgarh & Sagardighi to Begin at 8am

Counting for the crucial Erode East Assembly constituency will begin today at 8 am. According to senior officials, all arrangements are in place to count votes for the bypoll that was held on February 27. Counting is expected to end by 5 pm. The voter turnout for the Erode polls was 74.7%.

The bypoll is expected to be a test of the ruling DMK government’s popularity and set the mood for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The main opposition AIADMK strained every nerve to take on the ruling party over a string of issues. Edappadi K Palaniswami led the campaign and O Panneerselvam’s camp withdrew its candidate. For the AIADMK, the Supreme Court’s directive allowing Palaniswami to continue to lead the party proved to be the much needed shot in the arm for the party.

Maharashtra Assembly Bypolls

Meanwhile in Maharashtra, counting of votes for the by-election to Chinchwad Assembly seat and Kasba Peth Assembly segment in Maharashtra’s Pune district will be held today. Voting for the bypolls was held on February 26. A voter turnout of 50.47 per cent was recorded in the by-election to Chinchwad Assembly seat and 50.06 per cent in Kasba Peth Assembly segment in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Sunday.

The bypolls for Kasba Peth and Chinchwad constituencies were necessitated due to the death of their respective Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap.

Bengal & Jharkhand Bypolls

Counting would take place for two other by-elections in West Bengal’s Sagardighi assembly constituency in Murshidabad district and a by-election in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh assembly constituency. The by-poll for the Sagardighi assembly seat was necessitated by the death of its three-time TMC MLA and state minister Subrata Saha in December last year.

In Ramgarh, the by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case.

Here are LIVE Updates of the By-elections in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal & Jharkhand

• Erode East Bypolls: Nearly 75 percent of the 2.27 lakh voters cast their votes in the Erode East by-election held in Tamil Nadu on Monday. The election was necessitated due to the death of Elangovan’s son and Congress legislator E Thirumahan Everaa in January this year. While 77 candidates are in fray, the battle is likely confined between the Congress and AIADMK.
• Sagardighi bypolls: The by-poll was necessitated after the death of its three-time TMC MLA and state minister Subrata Saha in December last year. The TMC, which has been winning the seat since 2011, had won it in 2021 too by a margin of nearly 50,000 votes, securing more than 50 per cent of the total votes polled, whereas the BJP and the Congress-Left alliance had bagged 24 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.
• Ramgarh polls: The by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case. Though 18 candidates, including 14 Independents, are in the fray, the contest will be mainly between the Congress, an ally of the ruling JMM-led coalition, and the AJSU Party, which has tied up with the BJP for the bypoll.
• Pune bypolls: The bypolls to Kasba Peth and Chinchwad constituencies were necessitated due to the death of their respective Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap.
  — In the Kasba seat in Pune city, the contest was between BJP’s Hemant Rasane and Congress’s Ravindra Dhangekar, who was supported by the MVA alliance of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).
  — In Chinchwad, an industrial township near Pune city, the contest was between Ashwini Jagtap of the BJP and Nana Kate of the NCP. Shiv Sena (UBT) rebel Rahul Kalate was also in the fray in Chinchwad constituency, making it a triangular contest.

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