West Bengal, Uttarakhand Bye-Election Results 2019 highlights:
Voting day in West Bengal's Karimpur was marred by violence on Monday, after BJP alleged its candidate Jay Prakash Majumdar was assaulted by Trinamool Congress workers. The party submitted a letter to the Election Commission alleging Majumdar was punched and kicked into a ditch by a group of people in full view of mediapersons and police in Phipulkhola area of Nadia district. The EC has sought a report on the incident.
Polling to this seat was the highest among the three, with 75.34 per cent turnout. The other two seats that went to polls in Bengal were Karimpur and Kaliaganj.
Also read | Bypolls a litmus test for TMC, BJP ahead of Assembly elections
In Uttarakhand, around 47.48 per cent voters exercised their franchise in Pithoragarh Assembly bypoll on Monday. The turnout was much lower than in the 2017 Assembly elections, when 62 per cent voting was recorded. At one polling centre in Deodar, locals boycotted the poll on the issue of development. Election officials said that two people voted in that polling centre. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of three-time MLA Prakash Pant.
Shaking off its poor performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Thursday dealt a major blow to the BJP after it won all the three Assembly bypolls in West Bengal, including BJP state president Dilip Ghosh’s Kharagpur Sadar seat. While the TMC won the Kaliaganj and Kharagpur Sadar seats for the first time, in Karimpur it secured victory by a margin of 24,119 votes. Here is the full report
BJP on Thursday retained the Pithoragarh assembly seat in Uttarakhand by a slim margin of 3267 votes, with its candidate Chandra Pant defeating her main rival and Congress candidate Anju Lunthi. Chandra Pant is the wife of three-time MLA and former minister Prakash Pant, whose death had necessitated the bye-elections. Here is the full report
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The TMC managed a clean sweep in the West Bengal bye-elections to three seats. TMC candidate Bimalendu Singha Roy won the Karimpur seat by 24,119 votes, defeating BJP's Jay Prakash Majumdar. The TMC has won the Kaliaganj and Kharagpur Sadar seats for the first time.
Meanwhile, in West Bengal's Karimpur seat, TMC candidate Bimalendu Singha Roy is leading by a margin of 23,787 votes. In the Lok Sabha polls, the ruling party had a lead of over 14,000 votes from here. TMC's Mohua Mitra had bagged Karimpur in the last polls before she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Krishnanagar. The TMC has already won the Kaliaganj and Kharagpur Sadar Assembly seats.
BJP has retained the Pithoragarh assembly seat after its candidate Chandra Pant defeated her main rival and Congress candidate Anju Lunthi by 3267 votes. The Pithoragarh bypoll was necessitated after the death of three-time MLA and former minister Prakash Pant.
On winning the Kaliaganj bypoll, Tapan Deb Singha said: "I am very happy with the victory. From state level leaders to booth level workers, everyone made an enormous effort to win this seat. People believed in the development of Mamata Banerjee government. Besides, people have lost their faith in BJP. The NRC, too, was a factor which went against the saffron party."
The Trinamool Congress has registered a victory in the Kharagpur Sadar seat by a margin of 20,811 votes. TMC candidate Pradip Sarkar has defeated BJP's Prem Chandra Jha. Congress candidate Chittaranjan Mandal has come third.
As the results emerge from the West Bengal bye-elections, the BJP office in Kolkata wears a deserted look.
As the results from West Bengal are announced, Mamata Banerjee has dedicated the victory to the people of the state. She has also targeted the BJP for its “arrogance” and for “insulting” the people of the state. “We dedicate this victory to the people of Bengal. The BJP is getting paid back for its arrogance of power and for insulting the people of Bengal,” Mamata was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
BJP's Chandra Pant is leading from the Pithoragarh seat in Uttarakhand by a margin of over 2,500 votes. Congress' Anju Lunthi trails. Samajwadi Party's Manoj Kumar Bhatt has won garnered about 730 votes.
The Trinamool Congress has defeated the BJP to win the Kaliaganj Assembly seat in West Bengal by a margin of 2,304 votes, according to news agency PTI. Tapan Deb Singha, TMC's candidate, has defeated BJP's Kamal Chandra Sarkar. This is a blow for the Congress, as the seat had traditionally been its bastion and bye-elections were necessitated after the death of Congress MLA Parmathanath Roy.
The Trinamool Congress is leading from all the three bypoll seats in West Bengal, Kaliaganj, Karimpur and Kharagpur Sadar. The party has taken a big lead from the Karimpur seat, where its candidate Bimalendu Sinha Roy is ahead by a margin of over 28,000 votes. In Kharagpur Sadar, Pradip Sarkar is up by more than 16,000 votes. Meanwhile, Tapan Deb Singha is leading from the Kaliaganj seat by 3,300 votes.
The Trinamool Congress has taken a lead in the Kaliaganj seat by 3,300 votes. Its candidate Tapan Deb Singha is leading over BJP's Kamal Chandra Sarkar. Congress' Dhitashri Roy is coming third with just 8.64 per cent of the vote.
The BJP is leading by a margin of nearly 1,500 votes over Congress in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh seat. Chandra Pant, the saffron party's candidate, hopes to retain the seat that was held by her late husband Prakash Pant for three terms. The Congress' Anju Lunthi hopes her work as the head of the local block development council over the past two years will help her defeat her rival.
TMC's Bimalendu Sinha Roy is leading by a margin of nearly 15,000 votes in Karimpur as BJP's Jay Prakash Majumdar trails. This is the seat that registered the highest voter turnout on Monday, and was also marred by violence. This seat was won by TMC in the 2016 elections, and the party hopes to retain it.
Pradip Sarkar of the Trinamool Congress has taken a lead by 6,000 votes over BJP's Prem Chandra Jha. The TMC now leads in two of the three West Bengal seats, including Karimpur. BJP is leading from the Kaliaganj seat.
The bypoll results to West Bengal's three seats today — Karimpur, Kharagpur Sadar and Kaliaganj — are important for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections. It will be a signal to the parties as to where they stand with respect to the electorate. For the TMC, these polls are significant as they come months after the Lok Sabha elections, where the party managed to win only 22 of the 42 seats while the BJP bagged 18.
Here's an update on the election results to four bypolls, three in West Bengal and one in the hill-state of Uttarakhand. The BJP is currently leading in two seats in Bengal, Kaliaganj and Kharagpur Sadar. The TMC is trailing in both these seats. However, the party leads in the third seat in the state, Karimpur. In Uttarakhand, BJP is leading by a slim margin against the Congress.
BJP's Chandra Pant has taken a lead in the Pithoragarh contest by a slim margin of just 44 votes at the moment. Congress candidate Anju Lunthi is trailing. Chandra Pant is the wife of late Prakash Pant, a three-time MLA from the seat and former minister. The polls to Pithoragarh were necessitated after his death.
Trinamool Congress candidate Bimalendu Sinha Roy is leading from the Karimpur bypoll seat by a large margin of 4,643 votes. His closest competitor is BJP's Jay Prakash Majumdar. This is good news for the TMC, which had won the seat in the 2016 Assembly polls. The seat fell vacant when TMC's Mahua Maitra was elected to the Lok Sabha in May.
BJP candidate Kamal Chandra Sarkar has taken a lead of around 1,600 votes over Trinamool Congress' Tapan Deb Singha. This isn't good news for the Congress as the seat has traditionally been its bastion and fell vacant after the death of its MLA Parmathanath Roy earlier this year.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) contested the bypolls in Uttarakhand to strengthen its party in the state. Ahead of the polls, it had expressed disappointment with the BJP and Congress for "playing politics by dividing people". Why is the party trying to expand its base? Well, this move firstly indicates the party's bid to become a national party like the BSP. Secondly, its decision stems from the fact that it wants to carve out a space as the third alternative in the hill state dominated by the BJP and Congress. Read more here.
In Kharagpur Sadar, Congress' Chittaranjan Mandal is leading by 544 votes. He is contesting against BJP candidate Prem Chandra Jha. This seat was held for seven terms by Congress MLA Gyansingh Sohanpal, before he was defeated by BJP state president Dilip Ghosh in 2016.
About an hour of counting has passed now in the bye-elections to four seats — three in West Bengal and one in Uttarakhand. In case you're just joining us, the results of the polls, which were held on Monday, will be announced around noon today. The initial trends are expected soon. Stay tuned, as we bring you the latest news and updates.
The death of three-time MLA and former minister Prakash Pant has necessitated the bypoll in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh. The BJP has fielded Pant's wife, Chandra Pant, in the hope to retain the seat in sympathy votes. She is contesting against Congress' Anju Lunthi, who has fought the polls showcasing her work as the head of the local block development council over the past two years. The fight is likely to be tough for both parties in this seat, which was won by Prakash Pant in 2017 by only a slim majority.
The Kharagpur Sadar seat was won by BJP state president Dilip Ghosh in 2016. This seat was a Congress stronghold till the 2016 state elections, when Ghosh ousted seven-time Congress MLA Gyansingh Sohanpal. When Ghosh was elected to the Lok Sabha in May, the seat fell vacant. Kharagpur Sadar recorded a 67.62 per cent voter turnout on Monday.
The polls to Kaliagunj in North Dinajpur district were necessitated after the death of sitting Congress MLA Parmathanath Roy. This seat is traditionally a Congress bastion, and the party hopes to retain power here. The seat fell vacant after his death on May 31 this year. The Congress has allied with CPM for these polls, in a desperate attempt to regain its foothold in the state.
The Karimpur bypoll registered the highest voter turnout on Monday. However, the polls were marred by violence after the BJP alleged its candidate was assaulted by Trinamool Congress workers. The Karimpur seat was traditionally a CPM stronghold. However, TMC candidate Mahua Maitra won the seat in the 2016 Assembly elections. The seat fell vacant after she was elected to the Lok Sabha this May. After its drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC is desperate to win these polls. Today's results are also a litmus test for the party and the BJP ahead of the 2021 state Assembly elections.
Welcome to our live blog on the bypoll results in West Bengal and Uttarakhand. Four seats in the two states went to polls on Monday — Karimpur, Kharagpur Sadar and Kaliaganj Assembly in West Bengal and Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. Counting of votes will begin at 8 am, and the final results are expected to be declared by noon. Follow our blog through the day for the latest news and updates.