Mid-term elections results: As the counting of votes progresses, Congress has gained lead in several constituencies in several states.
In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress is leading in the Nalagarh and Dehra seats with Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, leading in Nalagarh by 6,115 votes (11 am).
Meanwhile, in Uttarakhand, Congress is leading in Badrinath and Manglaur seats. Also, Congress' Dheeran Invati is leading in Madhya Pradesh's Awarwara seat with 4,541 votes.
On the other hand, Ashish Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in Hamirpur constituency in Himachal Pradesh with a margin of 743 votes.
In the current counting of votes for the 13 legislative assembly seats in seven states, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has taken the lead in all four seats in West Bengal. In Raiganj, Krishna Kalyani is ahead by over 28,000 votes.
In Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party's Mohinder Bhagat has secured victory in Jalandhar West seat.
Also Read: By-election results live: INDIA bloc wins 2 seats, lead in 9; BJP leads in 1 in Himachal
Meanwhile, JDU's Kaladhar Mandal is leading in Bihar's Rupauli seat, and the DMK is ahead in Tamil Nadu's Vikravandi seat. Polling for these seats was held on July 10 in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, with counting beginning on Saturday morning.
The Election Commission held by-elections in several constituencies in different states. These included Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Maniktala in West Bengal; Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh; Badrinath and Manglaur in Uttarakhand; Jalandhar West in Punjab; Rupauli in Bihar; Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu; and Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh.
Most seats saw a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, with the TMC and DMK also contesting in certain constituencies. In Himachal Pradesh, the by-elections were necessitated by the resignation of MLAs Hoshyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and KL Thakur (Nalagarh).
In the by-elections in West Bengal, a voter turnout of 62.71 per cent was reported in four constituencies. These by-elections were necessitated by Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Biswajit Das from Bagdah and Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat Dakshin vacating their seats to contest the Lok Sabha elections early.
Also read: By-election highlights: MP Amarwara records highest turnout, Uttarakhand's Badrinath lowest at 40%
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is aiming to maintain its dominance after the recent assembly elections in which it won 29 of the 42 seats in Bengal. Meanwhile, the BJP is hoping to regain ground after its Lok Sabha seats fell to 12 from 18 in 2019.
In Uttarakhand, despite incidents of violence in Manglaur constituency, in which four people were injured, a significant turnout of 67.28 per cent was recorded. The by-voting in Badrinath saw a battle between BJP's Rajendra Bhandari and Congress newcomer Lakhpat Singh Butola.
In Bihar, over three lakh voters saw a turnout of over 57 per cent in the by-elections for the Rupauli assembly seat. The by-elections were triggered by the resignation of MLA Bima Bharti, who had earlier won the seat for JD(U) but quit the party to contest the Lok Sabha elections on an RJD ticket.
Meanwhile, polling was held for the Amarwara (ST) assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district, with a high turnout of 78.71 per cent. The seat fell vacant after three-time Congress MP Kamlesh Shah switched to the BJP in March.
The results of these by-elections are being closely watched by both the BJP and the Congress, especially in Chhindwara, which has long been considered a stronghold of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath.
Tamil Nadu's Vikravandi constituency recorded a high voter turnout of 82.48 per cent in the by-elections necessitated by the demise of DMK legislator N Pughazhendhi. There are 29 candidates in the fray, with DMK candidate Anniyur Siva (alias Sivashanmugam A) pitted against PMK's C Anbumani and Naam Tamilar Katchi's K Abinaya.
Meanwhile, in Punjab's Jalandhar West Assembly by-voting, a turnout of 55 per cent was reported. The seat fell vacant after AAP legislator Sheetal Angural switched to the BJP, setting the stage for a competitive fight between AAP, BJP and Congress candidates.
