Counting of votes in 3 Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats begins
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The counting of votes for three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats across 13 states and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli has started amid heavy security arrangements and strict Covid-19 protocols, poll officials said.
The assembly byelections were held in five seats in Assam, four in West Bengal, three each in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Rajasthan and one seat each is in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Telangana.
The seats where Lok Sabha by-elections were held are Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.
An Election Commission official in Guwahati said the counting of votes of Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur, Mariani and Thowra Assembly constituencies are undertaken in 18 counting halls in five districts.
As many as 73.77 per cent of around eight lakh eligible voters in the five Assembly seats cast their votes in the Saturday's by-elections to decide the electoral fortune of 31 candidates.
The by-elections were necessitated due to the deaths of two sitting MLAs belonging to the United People's Party Liberal and the Bodoland People's Front due to Covid-19 infection while the two Congress and an All India United Democratic Front legislators joined the BJP after quitting their Assembly membership.
In Meghalaya, the counting of votes to the Mawryngkneng, Rajabala and Mawphlang Assembly seats started in the east Khasi Hills and west Garo Hills districts.
More than 80.86 per cent of the 1,02,695 eligible voters cast their votes to decide the electoral fate of 13 candidates in the three Assembly seats.
The bypolls were necessitated following the death of sitting MLAs -- David A. Nongrum (Congress, Mawryngkneng), Azad Zaman (United Democratic Party, Rajabala) and Syntar Klas Sunn (Independent, Mawphlang).
In Mizoram, the counting of votes for the Tuirial Assembly constituency began at the Kolasib Government College. More than 81.29 per cent of the 18,582 eligible voters cast their votes in the Saturday's bypolls to decide the fate of four candidates.
The bypoll to the Tuirial Assembly constituency in Kolasib district bordering Assam was held following the death of sitting Legislator, Andrew H. Thangliana of the Zoram People's Movement.