Assembly by-polls 2018: Congress has early advantage, find out how
The results of the 10 by-polls held in different parts of the country will be declared today. On May 28, elections were held in Legislative Assemblies of Shahkot (Punjab), Tharali (Uttarakhand), Ampati (Meghalaya), Chengannur (Kerala), Jokihat (Bihar), Gomia (Jharkhand), Silli (Jharkhand), Maheshtala (West Bengal), Noorpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Palus Kadegaon (Maharashtra).
The Congress takes an early lead in this election as Vishwajeet Kadam will be declared as the winner from the Kadegaon constituency. He was the lone candidate from this constituency after the BJP decided to withdraw Sangramsinh Deshmukh at the last minute after the Shiv Sena decided to back the Congress candidate.
The by-poll in Kadegaon was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA Patangrao Kadam. In Chengannur, Kerala the by-election became necessary following the death of CPI(M) lawmaker K K Ramachandran Nair in January. Here the candidates contesting are Saji Cheriyan from CPM, D Vijaykumar from Congress and PS Sreedharan Pillai from BJP.
The voter turn out at Ampati in Meghalaya was highest at 88.58 per cent. In Maheshtala the voting percentage stood at 70 while in Noorpur it was 57. In Jokihat it was 55 per cent while in Chengannur the percentage was 74.5. Shahkot recorded a polling percentage of 75.5.
These elections too witnessed an EVM controversy. Owing to faulty EVMs, re-polling was ordered at 49 booths at Bhandara-Gondia. A re-poll was also ordered at 73 booths at the Kairana Lok Sabha constituency.