New Delhi [India]: As the counting for assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra along with by-elections to 48 assembly constituencies across 15 states including two Lok Sabha seats is underway, the early trends have started to emerge.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Bharath Bommai is leading from the Shiggaon assembly constituency in Karnataka in the bypolls. Of 18 rounds, the counting of votes for one round has been concluded, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Bommai, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, is contesting the assembly by-election against Pathan Yasir Ahmed Khan of Indian National Congress (INC) and Ravi Krishna Reddy of Karnataka Rashtra Samithi.
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) candidate U R Pradeep is leading from the Chelakkara assembly constituency in Kerala. Of 13 rounds, the counting of votes for one round has been concluded, as per the ECI.
Pradeep is contesting the by-elections against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate K Balakrishnan and Ramya Haridas of Indian National Congress (INC) who are trailing.
Raushan Kumar, who is contesting from the Imamganj assembly constituency in Bihar, can be seen leading in the by-election results after the first round of counting concluded. He is contesting against Jitendra Paswan of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) and Deepa Kumari of Hindustani Awan Morcha (Secular).
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance crossed the halfway mark at 10 am leading in 172 seats so far, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance is trailing with 47 seats as per trends by the Elections Commission of India. According to initial trends, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is leading in 53 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 33, and the BJP has the most, leading in 100 seats, while the Rashtriya Yuva Swabhiman Party (RYSWP), party of the maha Yuti alliance has one seat.
The results of the fierce electoral battle in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are set to unfold today with the leaders from both sides expressing confidence in their victories. The counting of votes began at 8:00 AM and the early trends have started to emerge.
Arrangements were made for counting votes for the Jharkhand assembly polls on 81 seats and bypolls on 48 assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha seats across 15 states.
In Maharashtra, Mahayuti, which includes BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP is locked in a fierce contest with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) that includes Congress, Shiv Sena(UBT) and NCP(SP). The polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly was held on Wednesday, with 66.05 per cent polling recorded in the state against nearly 61 per cent in the 2019 Assembly elections. (ANI)
