Bypolls: 18.71% voter Turnout Recorded In First 2 Hours In Tripura, 17% In Bengal

Voting for seven assembly seats including the one vacated following the death of Congress veteran Oommen Chandy began at 7 am on Tuesday.

Over 17 per cent voting was recorded in the by-election to Dhupguri assembly seat in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district in the first two hours of polling, an official said.

Polling began, amid tight security, at 7 a.m. across 260 booths in the constituency, and the poll percentage stood at 17.25 till 9 a.m., he said.

"The polling has been peaceful so far. No untoward incident has been reported," the Election Commission official said.

Tripura
An average voter turnout of 18.71 per cent was recorded in the first two hours of polling on Tuesday in the by-elections to Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly seats in Tripura's Sepahijala district, an EC official said.

Polling began at 7 a.m. in 59 booths in Dhanpur assembly constituency and 51 in Boxanagar, and is scheduled to continue till 4 p.m.

"Polling began in two assembly constituencies peacefully. I appeal to the voters to come out and exercise their democratic rights. I also urge the people to maintain peace during the polling and repeat the precedent of peaceful voting like of last assembly elections," Chief Minister Manik Saha said in a Facebook post.

Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, over 10 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first two hours of polling for the Bageshwar Assembly by-election. There are approximately 1.2 lakh voters in the constituency. People began queuing up outside the polling booths from 6 am and by 9 am 10.13 per cent polling was recorded, Bageshwar District Magistrate Anuradha Paul told PTI.

The bypolls are held for two seats in Tripura, and one seat each in Kerala, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The by-election to the Dumri assembly seat in Jharkhand was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Jagarnath Mahto.

Boxanagar and Dhanpur seats in Tripura are going for bypoll due to the demise of sitting MLA Samsul Haque and the resignation of Pratima Bhoumik.

Dhupguri assembly seat in West Bengal was vacated following the death of sitting assembly member Bishnu Pada Ray, while the Ghosi seat in Uttar Pradesh fell vacant after SP's Dara Singh Chauhan resigned to join the BJP.

The Bageshwar seat in Uttarakhand fell vacant after the demise of sitting MLA Chandan Ram Das. Chandy was the MLA from the Puthuppally seat in Kerala. He represented the seat for over 50 years. The Bageshwar seat in Uttarakhand fell vacant after the demise of sitting MLA Chandan Ram Das.

Chandy was the MLA from the Puthuppally seat in Kerala. He represented the seat for over 50 years.