New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) Counting of votes for the Assembly by-elections in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia, Bihar’s Bankipur and Gujarat’s Manjalpur constituencies commenced on Monday morning.
The results will be declared later in the day.
The bypolls, held on July 30, are being closely watched as they are expected to carry political significance for the major parties in the respective states.
Among the three constituencies, the Datia by-election in Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 71.44 per cent during polling on July 30.
The electoral contest is primarily between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Ashutosh Tiwari and Congress nominee Ghanshyam Singh, with both parties expressing confidence about their prospects.
The by-election is also being viewed as the first electoral challenge for newly appointed BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal, making the outcome politically significant for the ruling party’s organisational leadership in Madhya Pradesh.
In Bihar, counting of votes polled in the Bankipur Assembly by-election is underway at Kala Bhawan in Patna under tight security arrangements.
The fate of 25 candidates will be decided as election officials oversee the counting process.
Authorities have put in place elaborate security measures, with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) having remained under a three-layer security cover until the commencement of counting.
Meanwhile, counting is also in progress for the Manjalpur Assembly by-election in Gujarat, which was necessitated following the demise of BJP MLA and former minister Yogesh Patel.
The constituency had recorded a voter turnout of 37.5 per cent during polling on July 30.
The principal contest in Manjalpur is between BJP candidate Satish Govindbhai Patel and Congress leader Bhikhabhai Rabari.
As counting progresses across all three constituencies, political parties are closely monitoring the trends as the final results are expected to be announced later in the day.
–IANS
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