Bypolls In Bankipur, Datia And Manjalpur: Voting Continues, Datia Logs Nearly 13% Turnout Till 9 AM
New Delhi: Amid tight security, polling began for the Assembly by-elections in Bihar's Bankipur, Madhya Pradesh's Datia and Gujarat's Manjalpur constituencies on Thursday, with elaborate arrangements in place to ensure free, fair and peaceful voting.
Officials said Polling for the Bankipur assembly by-election in Bihar began at 7 AM. Around 3.80 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 26 candidates, including Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who is making his electoral debut.
Voting will continue till 6 PM, a senior official at the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer said. Counting of votes is scheduled for August 3.
An approximate voter turnout of 4.16 per cent was recorded at the Bankipur constituency in Bihar. The voter turnout in Datia Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh was recorded at 12.94 per cent, while the Manjalpur constituency in Gujarat saw a voter turnout of 6.06 per cent till 9 am.
The entry of Kishor, a former poll strategist who launched the Jan Suraaj Party a few years ago, has turned the contest into a keenly watched battle in a constituency that has remained a BJP stronghold.
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat after he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April. Nabin had won the assembly seat for the fifth consecutive time in November last year, defeating his nearest rival Rekha Gupta of the RJD by over 50,000 votes.
The BJP, which has fielded youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha, has not lost the seat since 1995, when the constituency was known as Patna West. According to Election Commission data, all 422 polling booths in the constituency are located in urban areas.
Meanwhile, hours before voting began, Kishor accused the Bihar Police of having picked up many of his supporters, allegedly at the behest of the ruling BJP, which he said "fears losing the bypoll" in the Bankipur seat.
Speaking to reporters outside the state capital's Jakkanpur police station, Kishor said, "I have been camping here for the past few hours, and the police is unable to divulge whereabouts of more than 16 of my supporters who have been rounded up."
"I am not describing these as arrests since there is no record of which of my people have been named in which case. I came to this police station after learning that they had been kept at the Jakkanpur police station. But, here I am told that they have all been taken to different police stations. The SHO here even claims that the police station was not involved in the detentions, which were carried out at the instance of higher-ups," the former poll strategist alleged.
Police officials were, however, not immediately available for comments on Kishor's allegations. The Jan Suraaj Party founder claimed that "clearly, the ruling BJP is behind these detentions".
"It knows it is going to lose the bypoll. The police can keep a person in custody for 24 hours without producing him before a magistrate. So a plan has been devised to keep some of my supporters in custody till the time voting is over," he claimed.
He said this "misuse of administrative" machinery, however, cannot ensure the victory of the ruling NDA, which roped in "almost all 201 of its MLAs" for the campaign.
Officials said Polling for the Bankipur assembly by-election in Bihar began at 7 AM. Around 3.80 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 26 candidates, including Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who is making his electoral debut.
Voting will continue till 6 PM, a senior official at the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer said. Counting of votes is scheduled for August 3.
An approximate voter turnout of 4.16 per cent was recorded at the Bankipur constituency in Bihar. The voter turnout in Datia Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh was recorded at 12.94 per cent, while the Manjalpur constituency in Gujarat saw a voter turnout of 6.06 per cent till 9 am.
The entry of Kishor, a former poll strategist who launched the Jan Suraaj Party a few years ago, has turned the contest into a keenly watched battle in a constituency that has remained a BJP stronghold.
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat after he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April. Nabin had won the assembly seat for the fifth consecutive time in November last year, defeating his nearest rival Rekha Gupta of the RJD by over 50,000 votes.
The BJP, which has fielded youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha, has not lost the seat since 1995, when the constituency was known as Patna West. According to Election Commission data, all 422 polling booths in the constituency are located in urban areas.
Meanwhile, hours before voting began, Kishor accused the Bihar Police of having picked up many of his supporters, allegedly at the behest of the ruling BJP, which he said "fears losing the bypoll" in the Bankipur seat.
Speaking to reporters outside the state capital's Jakkanpur police station, Kishor said, "I have been camping here for the past few hours, and the police is unable to divulge whereabouts of more than 16 of my supporters who have been rounded up."
"I am not describing these as arrests since there is no record of which of my people have been named in which case. I came to this police station after learning that they had been kept at the Jakkanpur police station. But, here I am told that they have all been taken to different police stations. The SHO here even claims that the police station was not involved in the detentions, which were carried out at the instance of higher-ups," the former poll strategist alleged.
Police officials were, however, not immediately available for comments on Kishor's allegations. The Jan Suraaj Party founder claimed that "clearly, the ruling BJP is behind these detentions".
"It knows it is going to lose the bypoll. The police can keep a person in custody for 24 hours without producing him before a magistrate. So a plan has been devised to keep some of my supporters in custody till the time voting is over," he claimed.
He said this "misuse of administrative" machinery, however, cannot ensure the victory of the ruling NDA, which roped in "almost all 201 of its MLAs" for the campaign.