Bypolls: Brisk polling in eastern region

Guwahati/Patna/Gangtok: Brisk polling has been recorded in 15 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency in the eastern region, by-elections to which are being held on Monday.
The Assembly by-elections are in progress in five seats of Bihar, four in Assam, three in Sikkim, one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Meghalaya respectively.

Samastipur (SC) Lok Sabha seat is also witnessing a bypoll.

No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in the region.

Four Assembly constituencies in Assam recorded 50.46 per cent voting while Bijepur Assembly seat in Odisha witnessed 37.1 per cent polling till 1 PM, election officials said.

While Khonsa West Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh recorded 53 per cent turnout, Shella Assembly constituency in Meghalaya registered 32.28 per cent voting till 12 noon, they said.

Five Assembly seats in Bihar witnessed 22.19 per cent voting while around 24 per cent voting was recorded in Samastipur Lok Sabha seat during the same period.

Some 26.51 per cent polling was recorded in the three Assembly seats in Sikkim till 11 am, the officials said.

A total of 44,534 voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15 candidates in the Sikkim by-polls.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang is among the prominent candidates in the fray.

Voting is underway in Samastipur Lok Sabha seat besides Kishanganj, Nathnagar, Belhar, Simri Bakhtiyarpur and Daraunda Assembly constituencies in Bihar.

More than 30 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect from among 51 candidates in Bihar.

By-elections to four Assam constituencies - Rangapara, Sonari, Ratabari and Jania - will decide the fate of 20 contestants.

Some 6,78,898 voters, including 3,27,803 female and one of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise.

In politically-sensitive Bijepur Assembly seat in Odisha, the election is being held in 285 polling stations, of which 129 are identified as sensitive, where 2,32,264 people can exercise their franchise.

By-poll to the seat was necessitated after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who had won from two segments in the Assembly polls held early this year, resigned from Bijepur in Bargarh district and retained his home turf Hinjili in Ganjam district.

Besides Poklok Kamrang, where the Sikkim chief minister is in the fray, by-polls are being held in Martam Rumtek and Gangtok Assembly seats. Six contestants are in the fray in each of the constituencies.

Khonsa West Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh is witnessing a straight contest between two independent candidates - Chakat Aboh and Azet Hamtok.

Chakat Aboh, the wife of NPP leader Tirong Aboh who was shot dead in May, has been unanimously fielded by five major political parties in the state.

Altogether 10,185 electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in Khonsa West Seat.

By-poll to the Shella seat is being held in 58 polling stations where 29,763 voters, including 14,809 males and 14,954 females -- can exercise their franchise.

The by-poll was necessitated due to the death of Donkupar Roy, who was the MLA of Shella since 1988 and also the Speaker of the 10th Meghalaya Assembly, on July 28.

Six candidates, including Donkupar Roy's son Balajied Synrem, is in the fray.