NEW DELHI: By-elections will be conducted across 15 assembly constituencies on Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand, with vote counting scheduled for November 23.
In Uttar Pradesh, nine constituencies–Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki will go to polls on Wednesday. Ninety candidates are contesting, with Ghaziabad having the highest number at 14.
This will be the the first electoral contest between the INDIA bloc and NDA in this politically significant state following the Lok Sabha elections.
Samajwadi Party, during the 2022 assembly elections, won in Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal and Kundarki, whilst BJP won Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Khair. BJP’s ally RLD won the Meerapur seat.
Punjab will hold by-elections in four assembly seats: Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala, which were left vacant after sitting MLAs won Lok Sabha seats. Earlier, Congress held Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal, while AAP won Barnala. The electoral contest involves 45 candidates, including three women, with 6.96 lakh registered voters.
Key candidates include BJP’s former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Congress’s Amrita Warring, Jatinder Kaur, AAP’s Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Dr Ishank Kumar Chabbewal and BJP’s Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon.
Amrita Warring is the wife of Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Jatinder Kaur is the spouse of Gurdaspur MP and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
Additionally, by-elections will also be conducted in Kerala’s Palakkad constituency and Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath seat. Palakkad’s constituency was left vacant when Congress MLA Shafi Parambil won the Lok Sabha seat from Vadakara constituency whereas Kedarnath was vacant following BJP MLA Shailarani Rawat’s death in July.
Both candidates, BJP’s Asha Nautiyal and Congress’s Manoj Rawat, have previously represented this seat. Nautiyal won in 2002 and 2007 as BJP candidate.
Shaila Rani Rawat secured victory in 2012 on Congress ticket, lost to Manoj Rawat in 2017 as BJP nominee, but reclaimed the seat in 2022. The constituency has 90,540 eligible voters, including 45,775 women.