By-elections were conducted on Thursday in five Assembly constituencies of Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Kerala with voting going largely uneventful and voter turnout being different in different states. The election results will be announced on 23 June, said the Election Commission.
The voting started at 7 am and ended at 6 pm with sporadic incidents of violence reported in some areas. In West Bengal's Kaliganj constituency, over 70 per cent voting was reported by 5 pm, while in Kerala's Nilambur it was over 60 per cent by 3 pm.
Gujarat constituencies of Visavadar and Kadi both had turnout exceeding 54 per cent in the late afternoon. Voter turnout in Punjab's Ludhiana West constituency was 49.07 per cent as of 3 pm.
In Kaliganj, under the Nadia district, 69.85 per cent of polling was registered until 5 pm, and the queues outside some booths indicated that the overall figure might still increase. The bypoll was caused by the death of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed in February.
The TMC put up his daughter Alifa Ahamed as its candidate. The BJP put up Ashis Ghosh, and Congress put up Kabil Uddin Shaikh, who was backed by the CPI(M).
Fourteen central force companies were stationed in Kaliganj to facilitate hassle-free polling. Even though the process was largely free from trouble, the Congress complained that a polling agent of the party was ousted from a booth by TMC workers—an accusation denied by the ruling party. Party symbols and festoons inside 100 metres of polling booths were also taken down by election officials, according to EC guidelines.
Mobile phones were not allowed to be taken inside the polling booths by voters, who had to leave them at special counters run by EC volunteers.
BJP candidate Ashis Ghosh blamed polling officials of intentionally putting indelible ink on the wrong finger due to pressure from TMC agents. He claimed a "pre-planned political conspiracy", but poll officials indicated no rule violation had taken place.
A report on the incident has, however, been requested from the district magistrate.
In Nilambur constituency in Kerala, where the vote percentage was stable, 59.68 per cent of votes were registered up to 3 pm at 263 booths covering more than 2.32 lakh voters.
From the ten nominees, the strongest contenders are M Swaraj of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), Aryadan Shoukath of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), TMC state convenor and independent candidate P V Anvar, and Mohan George of BJP-led NDA.
Anvar's resignation from Nilambur resulted in the bypoll. Lack of debate on local matters such as wild animal attacks by all three main alliances during the campaign was the reason given by Anvar for resigning.
Earlier, he broke away from the CPI(M)-led LDF after raising allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his staff. Anvar was certain that he would garner support from both UDF and LDF vote banks.
Polling was conducted in Gujarat's Visavadar and Kadi Assembly segments. Junagadh district's Visavadar witnessed 54.61 per cent turnout, whereas Mehsana district's Kadi reported 54.49 per cent till 5 pm. A public holiday was declared by the state government in the two constituencies to promote voting.
The Visavadar seat had been empty since December 2023 following the resignation of AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani to join the BJP. BJP nominated Kirit Patel, Congress nominated Nitin Ranpariya, and AAP's then president of Gujarat Gopal Italia also contested, though not enrolled to vote in the constituency.
Visavadar has been out of reach of BJP success since 2007, and BJP leaders are hoping to break the 18-year jinx.
In Kadi, reserved seat for Scheduled Caste candidates, the seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki in February. BJP had fielded Rajendra Chavda, Congress had selected former MLA Ramesh Chavda, and AAP had nominated Jagdish Chavda.
Punjab's Ludhiana West seat, which went to polls following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January, saw voter turnout of 49.07 per cent by 3 pm. AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora cast his vote early, accompanied by family members.
He also visited a gurdwara, temple, and Dargah Pir before voting. Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, BJP’s Jiwan Gupta, and SAD’s Parupkar Singh Ghuman also voted.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann encouraged voters to turn out in huge numbers, tweeting on X: "My request to the voters of Ludhiana West is that you should exercise your voting right. Don't consider today as a holiday."
1,354 polling stations were established in the five constituencies.
The Election Commission stated that webcasting was done at 1,353 of the stations, leaving one station out. Voters were given mobile phone deposit counters outside the polling stations for the first time, replacing the previous system where voters would hide phones in their clothes.
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