Assembly byelections: Max 70.76% voting in Nilambur (Kerala), followed by Kaliganj (West Bengal) at 69.85%

Polling for by-elections on five Assembly constituencies across four states — Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal, and Punjab — was held on Thursday. Nilambur in Kerala) saw the maximum voter turnout of 70.76% till 5 pm when the voting ended.

According to the Election Commission of India, the turnout recorded at 5 pm was Nilambur (Kerala) 70.76%, Visavadar (Gujarat) 54.61%, Kaliganj (West Bengal) 69.85%, Kadi (Gujarat) 54.49%, and Ludhiana West (Punjab) with the lowest at 49.07%.

Advertisement

On West Bengal’s Kaliganj seat, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has fielded Alifa Ahmed, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Ashish Ghosh, and the Congress has fielded Kabil Uddin Shaikh as candidates for the by-elections.

In Gujarat’s Visavadar constituency, the BJP has fielded Kirit Patel, Congress has nominated Nitin Ranpariya, while the AAP has placed its former Gujarat president, Gopal Italia.

In the Kadi seat, the BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda. Congress has fielded Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA who won the seat in 2012, while AAP has chosen Jagdish Chavda.

In Punjab’s Ludhiana seat, the BJP has fielded Jiwan Gupta as its candidate. The Aam Aadmi Party has chosen Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora from the seat, which fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi.

For the Nilambur Assembly constituency, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded M Swaraj, the United Democratic Front (UDF) has fielded Aryadan Shoukath, while the BJP has nominated Adv. Mohan George as its candidate.

Polling commenced at 7 am amidst tight security arrangements, including the deployment of central security forces and police, along with live monitoring of the byelection process through an extensive webcasting system.

The counting of votes will take place on June 23.