Assembly By-Election 2025 Highlights: Voting begins for bypolls in Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal and Ludhiana West

A voter turnout of 21.51 percent was recorded till 11 am in the polling for the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll in Punjab on Thursday.

Amid tight security arrangements, the polling began at 7 am and it will continue till 6 pm. The counting of votes will be held on June 23.

The Ludhiana West Assembly seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.

There are a total of 14 candidates in the fray and 1,75,469 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise - 85,371 of them women and 10 belonging to the third gender. - PTI

The Visavadar and Kadi assembly constituencies in Gujarat recorded a turnout of 28.15 per cent and 23.85 per cent, respectively, in the first four hours of voting in bypolls to the two seats on Thursday, officials said.

The polling commenced at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, they said.

People queued up in large numbers during the early hours to cast vote. - PTI

Ludhiana West by-election in numbers

Total voters: 1,74,437

Males: 89,602

Females: 84,825

Third gender: 10

Senior citizen voters (85+): 2039

Young voters (18-19): 2896

PWD voters: 1234

Overseas electors: 9

Marked electors (VIP): 10

Polling stations: 192 (all urban)

Model polling stations: 10

- Women managed station: Lodhi Club, Rajguru Nagar

- Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) managed station: BVM School, Kitchlu Nagar

- Green polling station: Government Senior Secondary School (inside PAU campus)

ALL 194 polling stations will be equipped with live webcasting facilities.

235 CCTV cameras installed inside polling stations

Timings: 7 am to 6 pm

Total candidates in fray: 14

A voter turnout of 10.38 per cent was recorded till 9 AM on Thursday in the by-election to the Kaliganj assembly seat in West Bengal's Nadia district, officials said.

Polling began at 7 AM, amid tight security arrangements, they said.

Fourteen companies of central forces have been deployed to ensure free and fair polling in the constituency.

Voting will continue till 5 PM. - PTI

Voting in the bypoll for the Nilambur Assembly constituency in Kerala saw a turnout of 13.15 per cent after the first two hours -- 7 am to 9 am -- of polling, despite the rains on Thursday morning.

Polling commenced at 7 am amidst tight security arrangements, including the deployment of central security forces and police, along with live monitoring of the byelection process through an extensive webcasting system.

People began arriving early in the morning at the 263 polling booths across the constituency, which has over 2.32 lakh voters who will elect their representative from among 10 candidates. - PTI

In Kerala and West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the CPI(M) are viewing the bypolls as precursors to the Assembly polls slated for next year in their respective states. In Kerala’s Nilambur, the bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of CPI(M)-backed Independent legislator P. V. Anvar. In West Bengal’s Kaliganj, the bypolls were triggered by the death of TMC leader Nasiruddin Ahmed.

Five assembly seats across four states —Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal, and Punjab— will undergo bypoll elections today (Thursday). While in Gujarat, the Visavadar and Kadi seats will go to the polls, three other states will see one seat each hold voting: Nilambur in Kerala, Kaliganj in West Bengal, and Ludhiana West in Punjab. The results for the bypolls will be declared on June 23.