Counting has begun for the assembly and Lok Sabha polls in four states where votes were cast recently. These states are West Bengal, Bihar Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Of them, West Bengal’s Ballygunge assembly seat and Asansol parliamentary seat assume significance in light of Babul Supriyo’s switch from the BJP to the Trinamool Congress.
The Trinamool has fielded Supriyo as its candidate from the Ballygunge assembly seat and former BJP minister, Shatrughan Sinha, from Asansol. Supriyo represented Asansol seat as the BJP MP until he left the Hindutva to join the TMC.
According to early trends, the Trinamool has a lead in Bengal. In Bochahan, BJP’s Baby Kumari was leading by over 500 votes over her RJD rival Amar Kumar Paswan.
The other three assembly seats are Bochanhan in Bihar, Kolhapur North in Maharashtra and Khairagarh in Chhattisgarh.
Bihar has a coalition government of the BJP and the Janata Dal-United along with Jitan Ram Majnhi’s party.
LIVE UPDATES on today’s bypoll results will appear below:
16.04 PM: TMC’s Babul Supriyo wins Ballygunge assembly bypoll by a margin of 20,228 votes: EC website. (PTI)
15.15 PM: Maharashtra bypoll: Congress retains Kolhapur North Assembly seat by defeating the BJP by a margin of over 18,000 votes. (PTI)
13.59 PM: I’m leading, along with that Shatrughan Sinha is leading as well. Didi (Mamata Banerjee) guided us for working on ground. BJP’s position shows the effect of fuel price hike, opposition stooped low during campaign. Our party workers toiled in every corner: TMC leader Babul Supriyo. (ANI)
13.35 PM: I sincerely thank the electors of the Asansol Parliamentary Constituency and the Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving decisive mandate to AITC party candidates: West Bengal CM & TMC chief Mamata Banerjee
We consider this to be our people's warm Shubho Nababarsho gift to our Ma- Mati- Manush organization. Salute to the voters for reposing faith in us, yet again.(2/2)
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 16, 2022
12.57 PM: Official EC trends | TMC’s Shatrughan Sinha leading in Asansol Lok Sabha by-elections with 3,75,026 votes. BJP’s Agnimitra Paul trailing with 2,18,601 votes. CPI(M)’s Partha Mukherjee, a distant third with 50,786 votes. Counting is still underway. (ANI)
12.19 PM: Bengal bypolls: In Ballygunge Assembly seat, TMC candidate Babul Supriyo ahead of CPI(M)’s Saira Shah Halim by 9,105 votes; TMC nominee Shatrughan Sinha leading by 63,627 votes over BJP’s Agnimitra Paul in Asansol Lok Sabha constituency. (PTI)
12.11 PM: RJD candidate Amar Kumar Paswan takes lead of 21,049 votes over his nearest rival Baby Kumari of BJP in the bypoll to Bihar’s Bochahan assembly constituency. (PTI)
11.46 AM: After initial rounds of counting for by-polls, TMC’s Babul Supriyo ahead of CPI(M)’s Saira Shah Halim by 4,676 votes in Ballygunge assembly segment; TMC’s Shatrughan Sinha leading by 10,989 votes over BJP’s Agnimitra Paul in Asansol Lok Sabha constituency. (PTI)
11.07 AM: RJD candidate Amar Kumar Paswan leading by more than 11,620 votes over his nearest rival Baby Kumari of the BJP in the bypoll to Bihar’s Bochahan assembly seat. (PTI)
9.57 AM: As per official early trends by the Election Commission, TMC leads on the Asansol Parliamentary seat in West Bengal as counting for the by-election gets underway.
TMC had fielded Shatrughan Sinha from the constituency, BJP had fielded Agnimitra Paul. (ANI)
9.15 AM: AMAR KUMAR PASWAN of RJD takes lead in Bochahan by more than 600 votes. BJP candidates trails after taking early lead.
9.11 AM Jayashree Jadhav of Congress leads with 7501 votes from Kolhapur North in Maharashtra
9.06 AM Yashoda Verma of Congress leads by nearly 1200 votes in Chhattisgarh’s Khairagarh
9.:03 AM Babul Supriyo is ahead by more than 4,000 votes in Ballygunge after the second round of voting.