Shillong Oct 30 PTI Voting was underway for the by-elections in three assembly constituencies in Meghalaya amid tight securityChief Election Officer FR Kharkongor said polling began at 7 am in all the polling stations in Mawryngkneng Mawphlang and Rajabala assembly constituenciesThe initial hour saw brisk polling he addedThe by-elections were necessitated following the demise of the sitting MLAs of the three seatsA total of 13 candidates are in the fray for the bypolls to the three seats Five candidates each are contesting from Mawryngkneng and Rajabala constituencies while three are in the fray in Mawphlang constituencyOver 1 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypollsMawryngkneng with 60 polling stations has 36751 voters while Mawphlang with 50 polling stations has 33194 voters and Rajabala with 58 polling stations has 32750 votersThe votes will be counted on November 2 PTI JOP SOM SOM

Bengaluru Oct 30 PTI Voting is underway for the bypolls in Sindgi and Hangal assembly constituencies in Karnataka election officials said on SaturdayThe polling began at 7 am will go on till 7 pmA total of 19 candidates are in the fray in the two constituencies including six from Sindgi and 13 from Hangal Two candidates from Sindgi are womenThe counting of votes will take place on November 2There are a total of 439148 eligible voters including 230 service voters from both the constituencies who can cast their votes at 560 polling stationsThe by-elections have been necessitated as the seats fell vacant following the death of Sindgi JDS legislator M C Managuli and BJPs C M Udasi from Hangal While Ramesh Bhusanur who came second behind Managuli in 2018 polls is the BJP candidate from Sindgi Shivaraj Sajjanar is its candidate from Hangal constituency The Congress has named M C Managulis son Ashok Managuli who has joined the party as its candidate from Sindgi while former MLC Srinivas Mane is its candidate from HangalThe JDS which was the first to announce its candidates has fielded 33-year-old post graduate Naziya Shakeel Ahmed Angadi from Sindgi and 35-year-old BE MTech graduate Niyaz Shaikh from HangalThis is the first electoral challenge for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai after taking charge Retaining Hangal is even more important for him as it is the neighbouring constituency to his Shiggaon assembly segmentThe Congress by ensuring a win wants to give momentum for its preparations in the run up to 2023 assembly polls in the state while the JDS is looking to retain Sindgi seat and thereby prove that it still commands a support base in the northern districtsCongress leaders have alleged that the JDS deliberately fielded minority candidates for the Hangal and Sindgi by-elections to help the BJP PTI KSU RHL

Jaipur Sep 28 PTI Voting for the bypolls to Rajasthans Dhariyavad and Vallabhnagar Assembly seats will be held on October 30 The Election Commission EC announced the schedule for the bypolls on Tuesday For the first time in these elections the silence period has been increased from 48 hours to 72 hours The election notification for both the seats will be issued on October 1 Nominations can be filed till October 8 Polling will be held on October 30 while the counting of votes will be taken up on November 2 Election was necessitated on the seats after Congress MLA from Vallabhnagar Gajendra Singh Shaktawat died due to COVID-19 on January 20 and BJP legislator from Dhariyavad Gautam Lal Meena died of the infection on May 19 A total of 509 lakh voters will be eligible to exercise their franchise in both the assemblies out of whom 257 lakh are male voters and 252 lakh are female voters In a statement Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that for the first time in these elections the silence period has been increased from 48 hours to 72 hours Campaigning in these by-elections will stop 72 hours before voting he added He informed that 781 polling stations have been set up in both the assemblies Of these 396 polling stations have been set up in Dhariyavad and 385 in Vallabhnagar The Chief Electoral Officer also held a meeting with the representatives of recognised political parties and appealed for the necessary cooperation during the election He also made the parties aware of the guidelines issued by the commission He said that in view of the coronavirus pandemic the general assembly or procession before and after filing of nomination papers will be prohibited Only three vehicles will be allowed at the time of filing of nomination papers He said that any type of road show and rally would not be allowed Even during door-to-door campaign only five persons including the candidate will be allowed Only 50 people will be allowed in the street corner meetings Representatives and officials of political parties were present during the meeting The ruling Congress currently has 106 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly while the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP has 71 the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party RLP three the CPIM and the Bharatiya Tribal Party BTP two each and 13 independents Two seats are vacant Earlier bypolls were held for the Sahada Sujangarh and Rajsamand Assembly seats in the state with the Congress winning two of those and the BJP one The EC announced in New Delhi on Tuesday that bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 30 Assembly seats in different states will be held on October 30 PTI AG SMN SMN