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

Webcasting was done at all but one polling station of the five Assembly seats that went to bypolls on Thursday, the Election Commission said.

A total of 1,354 polling stations were set up for the five bypolls in four states and webcasting was held at 1,353, the poll authority said.

Earlier this week, the EC had decided to ensure webcasting at 100 per cent polling stations from now on. Till recently, webcasting was done in 50 per cent of the polling stations. Besides, it was done at sensitive polling stations. — PTI

A voter turnout of 69.85 per cent was recorded till 5 PM on Thursday in the by-election to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency in West Bengal's Nadia district, with polling largely peaceful except for a few isolated incidents, officials said. — PTI

A voter turnout of more than 41 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in the bypoll to the Ludhiana West assembly seat in Punjab on Thursday.

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

District Election Officer (DEO) Himanshu Jain said voting is going on peacefully and appealed to voters to set a new record of turnout by coming out in massive numbers to cast their votes. — PTI

Voting in the bypoll for the Nilambur Assembly constituency in Kerala saw a steady turnout and reached close to 60 per cent by 3 pm, eight hours after commencement of polling on Thursday.

The turnout was 59.68 per cent at 3 pm, according to Election Commission figures. — PTI

BJP candidate for the by-election to Kaliganj assembly constituency in West Bengal's Nadia district, Ashis Ghosh, on Thursday alleged that polling officials put the ink mark on his middle finger instead of the index finger when he went to cast his vote.

Ghosh alleged that the polling officer of booth number 173 in Debagram under the "insistence" of Trinamool Congress agents deliberately put the ink mark on his middle finger. — PTI

A voter turnout of 33.42 percent was recorded till 1 pm in the polling for the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll in Punjab on Thursday.

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

A voter turnout of 30.64 per cent was recorded till 11 am on Thursday in the by-election to the Kaliganj assembly seat in West Bengal's Nadia district, officials said.

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

Voting will continue till 5 PM.

Tension flared up at a booth where the Congress alleged that its polling agent was forcibly removed by workers of the Trinamool Congress. The ruling party, however, denied the charge.

The by-election was necessitated by the death of Trinamool Congress MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed in February. His daughter, Alifa Ahamed, is contesting the seat as the TMC nominee.

The BJP has fielded Ashis Ghosh as its candidate, while Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh is in the fray with the support of the CPI(M). - 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

Overall voter turnouts in Ludhiana West assembly elections:

2012: 69.66%

2017: 69.25%

2022: 64.29%

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

Voting began on Thursday morning for byelections to the Visavadar and Kadi assembly seats in Gujarat, where the BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have put up their candidates.

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

The state government has declared a public holiday on Thursday in both the constituencies for voting, said the office of Gujarat's Chief Electoral Officer. - PTI

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

A voter turnout of 8.50 percent was witnessed in the first two hours of polling in the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll on Thursday.

Amid tight security arrangements, the polling began at 7 am and it will continue till 6 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

The voting for the Ludhiana West bypoll, an urban constituency in Punjab, started 7 am, Thursday.

A total of 1.74 lakh registered voters will vote after 20 days of intense campaigning which saw more of personal mudslinging by candidates than a focus on the multiple issues that plague this posh, urban constituency of Punjab.

In the four-cornered political battle, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab has a lot at stake in this bypoll, months after it faced defeat in Delhi assembly polls, including its national convener Arvind Kejriwal losing.

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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.

The BJP aims to regain an old bastion in Gujarat, but it is also hoping to clinch another seat in Punjab, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is growing steadily. Visavadar in Gujarat’s Junagadh district fell vacant after sitting AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani joined the ruling BJP. In Ludhiana, the seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi.

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.