Priyanka wins Wayanad Lok Sabha seat by over 4.1 lakh votes

BJP candidate Suresh Awasthi visits a counting center amid the counting of votes for the Sisamau Assembly byelection, in Kanpur, Saturday. — PTI

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party was leading from Chabbewal and Gidderbaha while the Congress was ahead in Dera Baba Nanak and Barnala segments in Punjab, showed initial trends in the counting of votes bypolls to four Assembly segments in the state on Saturday.

In Chabbewal, the AAP's Ishank Kumar Chabbewal consolidated his position as he was leading by 8,508 votes against his nearest rival and Congress candidate Ranjit Kumar after the fifth round of counting. The BJP's Sohan Singh Thandal was in the third spot.

In Gidderbaha, AAP's Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon was leading by 1,699 votes against his nearest rival and Congress nominee Amrita Warring, the wife of Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, after the two rounds of counting.

BJP candidate and former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal was in the third spot.

The Dera Baba Nanak and Barnala segments witnessed neck-and-neck contests between the Congress and AAP.

In Barnala, Congress candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhillon was leading by 1,188 votes against AAP's Harinder Singh Dhaliwal after the six rounds of counting. BJP's Kewal Dhillon was in the third spot.

In Dera Baba Nanak, Congress candidate Jatinder Kaur Randhawa was leading by 421 votes against AAP candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa after four rounds of counting. Kaur is the wife of Congress MP from Gurdaspur Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

BJP's Ravikaran Kahlon was at the third spot.

Counting of votes for the bypolls to Punjab's four assembly segments began at 8 am on Saturday.

Bypolls to Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala took place on November 20. The bypolls were necessitated after the incumbent legislators were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year. - PTI

Patna: The ruling NDA alliance in Bihar secured early leads in three of the four assembly constituencies where bypolls were held on November 13, officials said on Saturday.

NDA candidates were leading in Tarari, Belaganj and Imamganj constituencies, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was ahead in Ramgarh, according to initial trends of counting for the bypolls to the four assembly segments. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, Vishal Prashant of the BJP was leading in Tarari by 2,636 votes over his nearest rival Raju Yadav of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation after the completion of the second round of counting. In the Imamganj constituency, Deepa Kumari of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), an alliance partner of the NDA, was leading by 1,553 votes over her nearest rival Raushan Kumar of the RJD after the sixth round of counting. Initially, Kumari, the daughter-in-law of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, was trailing.

Manjhi, who previously represented the Imamganj seat, vacated it following his election to Lok Sabha from Gaya in the 2024 parliamentary elections. In the Belaganj assembly seat, Manorma Devi of JD(U), which is also an alliance partner of the NDA, was leading by 7,928 votes over her nearest rival Vishwanath Kumar Singh of the RJD after completion of four rounds of counting.

Satish Kumar Singh Yadav of the BSP was leading by 3,033 votes in Ramgarh over his nearest rival Ashok Kumar Singh of the BJP after four rounds of counting. Counting to the four assembly constituencies began at 8 AM amid tight security arrangements. All four assembly constituencies fell vacant after MLAs representing these were elected in the last Lok Sabha polls. - PTI

Patna: Ruling NDA candidates were leading in Tarari and Belaganj constituencies, while the RJD, part of the INDIA bloc, was ahead in Imamganj, and Bahujan Samaj Party in Ramgarh, according to initial trends of counting for the bypolls to four Assembly constituencies in Bihar.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, BSP's Yadav was leading in Ramgarh by 3,500 votes over his nearest rival, Ashok Kumar Singh of the BJP, after the completion of the second round of counting.

In Imamganj constituency, RJD's Raushan Kumar was leading by 2,304 votes against Deepa Kumari of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).

After the third round of counting, Kumar secured 13,352 votes, while Kumari, the daughter-in-law of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, had received 11,048 votes.

Manjhi, who previously represented the Imamganj seat, vacated it following his election to the Gaya Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Counting to the four Assembly constituenciesTarari, Imamganj, Belaganj, and Ramgarhbegan at 8 AM amid tight security arrangements.

The by-elections, held on November 13, are crucial for the ruling NDA, the INDIA bloc, and the newly formed Jan Suraaj party.

More than 12 lakh voters decided the electoral fate of 38 candidates in these four assembly seats.

All four assembly constituencies fell vacant after MLAs representing these were elected in the last Lok Sabha polls. - PTI

Jaipur: The BJP, Congress and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) candidates are leading on two seats each while an Independent was leading in Jhunjhunu in the counting of votes in the bypolls to seven assembly seats of Rajasthan. BJP candidates Rajendra Gurjar and Revant Ram Danga are leading in the Deoli-Uniara and Khinwsar seats, respectively. Independent candidate Naresh Meena is in the second spot in Deoli-Uniara while Congress candidate Kastoori Chand Meena is in third number. In Khinwsar, Rewant Ram Danga is leading by 4,451 votes after three rounds of counting. Kanika Beniwal of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party is trailing behind the BJP candidate. Beniwal is the wife of Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal. Congress candidate Aryaan Zubair Khan is ahead in the Ramgarh seat by 1,774 votes after two rounds of counting. Similarly, Congress candidate Deen Dayal is leading in Dausa by 1,885 votes. BJP candidate Jag Mohan, the brother of Cabinet Minister Kirodi Meena, is training in Dausa. BAP candidates Jitesh Kumar Katara and Anil Kumar Katara are leading in the Salumbar and Chorasi seats. In Jhunjhunu, Independent candidate and former minister Rajendra Gudha is leading by 298 votes after four rounds of counting. BJP candidate Rajendra Bamboo is trailing behind Gudha while Congress candidate Amit Ola is in third position. Amit Ola is the son of Jhunjhunu MP Brijendra Ola. The seven seats in Rajasthan went to bypolls on November 13.

Bypolls to two seats -- Ramgarh and Salumbar -- were necessitated due to the death of the sitting MLAs while in five seats the MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls. Currently, the 200-seat state assembly has 114 MLAs of the BJP, 65 of the Congress, three of the Bharat Adivasi Party, two of the Bahujan Samaj Party, one of the Rashtriya Lok Dal and eight Independent MLAs. - PTI

Raipur: BJP candidate Sunil Kumar Soni was leading by 785 votes over Congress rival Akash Sharma in the Raipur City South assembly bypoll in the first round of counting of votes, officials said.

The counting of votes began at 8 am on Saturday, they said. The ruling BJP and opposition Congress are striving to win the constituency, where the by-election was necessitated after sitting BJP legislator and former state minister Brijmohan Agrawal resigned following his election to Lok Sabha from Raipur parliamentary constituency. The counting of votes in the bypoll in Raipur City South seat began at 8 am at the Government Engineering College Sejbahar here, where adequate number of security personnel have been deployed, a poll official said As per the early trends, BJP's Soni was leading by a margin of 785 votes against Congress candidate Sharma after the first round of counting, he said. Soni secured 3,583 votes, while Sharma got 2,798 votes after the first round of counting. A voter turnout of 50.50 per cent was recorded in the bypoll held on November 13 for the seat located in Raipur district. Though 30 contestants were in the fray, the main fight was between the BJP and the Congress. In the last year's assembly election, Agrawal had secured 1,09,263 votes in Raipur City South seat and won by the highest margin of 67,719 votes against his nearest Congress rival. The BJP had registered a landslide victory in the last year's state polls, winning 54 seats out of 90 in the state while the Congress had won 35 and Gondwana Gantantra Party bagged one seat. - PTI