Besides victory and loss, the outcomes in these assembly constituencies could shape the future of the leaders in the fray as well as their fronts—the Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

A look at some of the big fights that will determine the course of this election:

Worli

In 2019, Aaditya Thackeray became the first from his family to venture into electoral politics by contesting the assembly elections from Worli in Mumbai. As the nominee of the undivided Shiv Sena, Thackeray got a cakewalk of sorts when Sachin Ahir, an ex-MLA from the seat and a former minister from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), joined the Shiv Sena. Thackeray romped home against the NCP-backed Suresh Mane by almost 70,000 votes.

However, much water has flown down the bridge since then, and this time, Thackeray faces a triangular fight against Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora and former corporator Sandeep Deshpande of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Thackeray's Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faces the challenge of reaching out to voters with the new 'mashaal', or flaming torch symbol, instead of the traditional 'bow and arrow' that is now with the Sena faction led by chief minister Eknath Shinde.

The Worli seat has 65-70 per cent Marathi speakers, and around a third of the constituency lives in slums and a significant number in chawls. Thackeray's opponents accuse him of being inaccessible. Deshpande is expected to cut into the Marathi votes of the undivided Shiv Sena while Deora may get some votes from residents of high-rises and housing societies, who form around 15 per cent of the electorate.

Thackeray, speaking to INDIA TODAY, listed the launch of the first mobile Covid-care centre for the people of Worli and Mumbai, pushing the pending redevelopment of the BDD chawls and Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects as his achievements as the constituency's MLA. "Where were these people, who are making these allegations against me, during the Covid pandemic? Some went away to their farm houses. We have worked for the people during the Covid pandemic. Some were even ready to join us, but we refused to take them in. After all, what was the benefit for Maharashtra if we gave them a Rajya Sabha berth?" he retorted, when asked about allegations about his inaccessibility.

Baramati

In the Lok Sabha elections, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) patriarch Sharad Pawar won the first round of his battle against his recalcitrant nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar when his daughter Supriya Sule defeated Ajit's wife Sunetra Pawar. A humbled Ajit was forced to say that fielding his wife against his cousin was a blunder.

Now, another Pawar versus Pawar fight is taking place in Baramati as Ajit, as a contestant, faces a challenge from nephew Yugendra Pawar, son of his younger brother Shrinivas aka Bapu. Yugendra, who had hit the ground running in the Lok Sabha elections for his aunt Sule, is focusing on issues like stagnating industrial growth and water problems in parts of the constituency located in Pune district. He hopes to tap into the perceived anti-incumbency against uncle Ajit, who has been representing the seat since 1991.

However, despite Sule's swashbuckling victory, Ajit's supporters claim that it is 'Dada' (as he is called) who will make the cut in this assembly poll contest. "We will win the election one way by a margin of over 100,000 votes… The issue of development will work here. In the Lok Sabha elections, the issue of this being saheb's (Pawar Senior) last election came into play and affected the results," says Jay Patil, Baramati city chief of the NCP.

Mahim

In the Mahim seat that abuts Worli, Aaditya Thackeray's politically estranged cousin Amit Thackeray is in the fray as a nominee of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). MNS chief Raj Thackeray's son is the second Thackeray to contest a public election. While the BJP was eager that Sada Sarvankar, the Shiv Sena MLA from the seat, withdraw from the fray in Amit's favour, Sarvankar dug his heels in, allegedly at the urging of his party bosses. This was apparently because the Shiv Sena top brass was upset at Raj's statement that the next chief minister of Maharashtra would be from the BJP and with support from the MNS. This implied that incumbent Eknath Shinde was on his way out.

Sharing his vision for the constituency, Amit told INDIA TODAY: "I want to completely transform Mahim beyond people's expectations. I want to clean up the seashore, solve the problems of the residents of the police colony and the Kolis (fisherfolk). Shivaji Park has not been developed in the manner it should be. The cricket pitches must be aesthetic. I go there for a walk daily. Cricketers urge me to do something about it, and say this is the worst pitch on which they are playing cricket in Mumbai. This is very unfortunate. Where do we take our children to play? I take my son Kian to play in a park developed by Raj saheb (Raj Thackeray) using Lata Didi's (late maestro Lata Mangeshkar) funds (when she was a Rajya Sabha MP). I am 32 years old and my son is two. I am taking him to the very place where I played as a child."

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded Mahesh Sawant, who hopes to sail through in the battle between the MNS and the Shiv Sena, based on the sympathy votes for the Uddhav Thackeray faction. There is much at stake for all three Senas since this constituency is at the heart of the nativist politics of the undivided Shiv Sena and the iconography of party founder Bal Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena was formed at Ranade Road in Dadar, where the Thackeray clan stayed in a modest ground-floor flat. Thackeray family patriarch 'Prabodhankar' Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, the journalist and activist, had launched public Navratri celebrations with social reformers Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Raobahadur S.K. Bole. The Shiv Sena held its first public meeting and its annual Dusshera rallies at Shivaji Park in Dadar and it is here that Bal Thackeray was cremated in 2012.

The party that wins Mahim will be able to strengthen its claim on the nativist legacy of Bal Thackeray.

Kudal, Kankavali and Sawantwadi

In 2005, then leader of the Opposition and former chief minister Narayan Rane quit the Shiv Sena and joined the Congress after a protracted battle for space with Uddhav Thackeray, who was the working president of the Sena. Rane's men took on Shiv Sainiks in pitched street battles in Mumbai and his home district of Sindhudurg on the Konkan coast. Rane defeated the Shiv Sena's Parshuram Uparkar from his Malvan seat despite Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray's campaign.

In 2014, Rane faced a massive setback after he was defeated in his constituency of Kudal by Vaibhav Naik of the Shiv Sena. Later, he was trounced by the Shiv Sena's Trupti Sawant from Vandre (East) in a bypoll. Now, Rane, who has joined the BJP, has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg, defeating two-term MP Vinayak Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT).

Life seems to have full circle for the Ranes as his elder son Nilesh, a former MP, has joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena to take on Naik from Kudal. In neighbouring Kankavali, younger brother Nitesh is looking for a hat-trick against Sandesh Parkar of the Shiv Sena (UBT). Thus, the Ranes and the Thackerays are locked in a grudge match from the two seats. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is focusing its attacks on what it says are the strong-arm tactics of the Ranes in the district.

In Sindhudurg, school education minister Deepak Kesarkar of the Shiv Sena is facing a challenge from the Sena (UBT)'s Rajan Teli, who was close to Rane and quit the Shiv Sena with him. He has now returned to Thackeray's fold. However, there is a multi-cornered fight in the seat as BJP leader Vishal Parab, who is close to PWD minister Ravindra Chavan, and NCP (SCP) leader Archana Ghare-Parab have rebelled. A section of old-time Shiv Sainiks is upset at "an original gaddar (traitor)"—reference to Teli—being deployed to take on a more recent "gaddar" (Kesarkar).

Dr Jayendra Parulekar, spokesperson, Shiv Sena (UBT), Sindhudurg, said the battle was against the "terror" unleashed by the Ranes and their workers in the district, and added that the people of the Konkan would stand by the party. However, former BJP MLA Pramod Jathar, who is the organisational coordinator for the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat, claimed they would win all three seats. He pointed to how the BJP and Rane won the Lok Sabha seat in times when the political mood was against the party and the Mahayuti.

Vandre East

In 2019, Congress candidate Zeeshan Siddiqui became a surprise winner in the Vandre East seat, where 'Matoshri,' the Thackeray family residence in Kalanagar, is located. The constituency that covers Bandra East in suburban Mumbai, has a strong middle and lower-middle class pocket apart from Muslim strongholds like Behrampada, and the upper classes in the business district of the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

Though the chances of Siddiqui, who is the son of former Congress minister Baba Siddiqui, were bolstered by the rebellion of Shiv Sena MLA Trupti Sawant, who had been denied a nomination in favour of Vishwanath Mahadeshwar in 2019, Sena leaders had expressed surprise at the Congress candidate, a Muslim, picking up around 8,000 votes in a civic ward dominated by Marathi-speakers from the Konkan.

Now, Siddiqui is contesting as a candidate of the NCP, and pitted against him is Varun Sardesai, the Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee, and maternal cousin of Aaditya Thackeray. Sawant, who is the widow of former MLA Prakash (Bala) Sawant, is contesting as a MNS nominee. Siddiqui may get sympathy votes due to the murder of his father, allegedly by the members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

The jury is still out on whether the Sena (UBT) will capture its former stronghold or the results of the 2019 battle will repeat itself in a triangular fight.

Senior leaders like Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, JP Nadda, Amit Shah, Eknath Shinde, Uddhav Thackeray, Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar have been campaigning for their party candidates. 

The contest has turned interesting this time with two major regional parties - Shiv Sena and the NCP - going to the polls after facing a split. While Eknath Shinde is leading the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray is leading the Shiv Sena UBT. Similarly, Ajit Pawar is leading the NCP while Sharad Pawar is leading the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar faction. 

The Shinde Sena and the NCP-Ajit are part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance with the BJP while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi consists of Congress, NCPSP, Sena-UBT, Samajwadi Party and the Left. Both the faction has ruled the state for around two-and-half years and are seeking vote in the name of work done by their respective governments. 

The Election Commission of India (ECI) said that Maharashtra has 9.63 crore registered voters, with 4.97 crore male voters and 4.66 crore female voters. A total of 52,789 polling stations will be set up, including 39,048 in rural areas and 13,741 in urban areas.

There are a total of 1,00,186 polling stations in Maharashtra across 52,789 locations. Of these, 42,604 polling booths are located in urban region while 57,582 are in rural areas. The average number of voters per polling station is 960.

BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP vs Congress-NCPSP-Sena UBT Full Candidate List

There are a total of 4,136 canddiate in the fray for the 288 assembly seats with the Beed district seat having highest number of 34 candidates. In the 2019 Assembly elections, a total of 3,237 candidates participated, compared to 4,119 candidates who contested in the 2014 elections.

The voting for the Maharashtra assembly elections will take place on November 20 while the counting of votes will take place on November 23, along with the Jharkhand assembly election results. 

The key candidates in the fray are Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, Rohit Pawar, Nawab Malik, Nana Patole, Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray, Milind Deora, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Zeeshan Siddique, Sreejaya Chavan and Amit Thackeray.

Previously, some posters had gone viral for Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's photo being missing from them. Now, with such a small image of the sitting chief minister, there is growing speculation about what message the BJP intends to convey.The Congress argues that the BJP is trying to keep Shinde in line. Congress President Nana Patole said that while BJP claims Shinde will stay as chief minister, the real face of the party is Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. Patole added that while the party banners include symbols of all three parties, only Modi and Fadnavis are highlighted, with Shinde barely visible.

They were suspended from their respective parties for engaging in anti-party activities during the ongoing assembly elections. It is notable that Mahesh Gaikwad, along with nine functionaries from Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, was also suspended

Mahesh Gaikwad, who was injured in a gunshot by the incumbent MLA Ganpat Gaikwad, who was in jail, is now rebel, contesting election in the Kalyan East assembly. The BJP has fielded candidate Sulbha Gaikwad, the wife of the jailed Ganpat Gaikwad. Uddhav Thackeray-led UBT has fielded Dhanjay Bodare in the constituency. The rebel candidate Mahesh Gaikwad, a leader from Kalyan under Eknath Shinde-led Shivsena, has filed his nomination as an independent.

Gopal Landge, a leader from Eknath Shinde-led Shivsena, issued a statement mentioning that nine functionaries have not followed the party's orders, resulting in anti-party activities. They have been identified as Mahesh Gaikwad, Sushila Mali, Vishal Pawase, Rohit Dumane, Manoj Welmakar, Sharad Pawasw, Shankar Patil, Raju Bhati, Prashant Bote, and Vidya Kumawat.Rebel Varun Patil, from BJP, who is contesting as an independent from Kalyan West, while incumbent MLA Vishwanath Bhoir from Eknath Shinde-led Shivsena is contesting in the same constituency. The BJP has suspended Varun Patil for six years, who is contesting as an independent candidate from the Kalyan West constituency in the November 20 Assembly. UBT fielded Sachin Basare in the same constituency.Narendra alias Nana Suryavanshi, the president of Kalyan BJP, issued a statement mentioning that Varun Patil has been suspended for six years from the party due to anti-party activities and has filed his nomination as an independent from Kalyan West.

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{os-gal-1} Kajal Agarwal

New Delhi: By-polls to three Lok Sabha seats and 29 assembly constituencies spread across 13 states and Dadra and Nagar Haveli will be held on Saturday with many contests seen as prestige issue for parties hit by defections.

Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.In majority of the seats, the main fight will be between BJP and Congress candidates.The counting of votes will take place on November 2.Though a bypoll was also announced for the Shamator-Chessore assembly constituency in Nagaland, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party candidate S Keoshu Yimchunger was declared elected uncontested on October 13.

The by-election to Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha seat was necessitated following the death of Mohan Delkar, the independent MP from the constituency, in February this year.There are three candidates in the fray, including Delkar’s widow Kalaben Delkar, who is contesting as a Shiv Sena nominee. From the BJP, Mahesh Gavit is fighting the bypoll, while the Congress has fielded Mahesh Dhodi.

Voting is underway across 333 booths and tight security arrangements have been made with the deployment of 10 companies of paramilitary forces, officials of the Election Commission said.There are a total of 2.58 lakh voters in the constituency, including 1.22 lakh female voters, the officials said, adding that around 1,500 people were deployed for election duty.The Shiv Sena and the Congress are constituents in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, but they are contesting against each other in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Late Lok Sabha MP Mohan Delkar. 

Mizoram

The bypoll to the Tuirial assembly constituency in Mizoram’s Kolasib district is being held after the death of sitting MLA Andrew H Thangliana of Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM).The ruling MNF has fielded K Laldawngliana, while the ZPM candidate is Laltlangmawi. The Congress has fielded Chalrosanga Ralte and BJP K Laldinthara for the by-election.The contest will, however, be between MNF, Congress and the ZPM.

Chief Electoral Officer P Jawahar told PTI that at least one company of central paramilitary force has been deployed, besides the state forces.A total of 17,911 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypoll across 27 polling stations.

Meghalaya

Three assembly constituencies in Meghalaya, Mawryngkneng, Mawphlang and Rajabala, were necessitated following the demise of the sitting MLAs of the three seats.A total of 13 candidates are in the fray for the by-polls to the three seats. Five candidates each are contesting from Mawryngkneng and Rajabala constituencies, while three are in the fray in Mawphlang constituency.

Over 1 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypolls.Mawryngkneng with 60 polling stations has 36,751 voters, while Mawphlang with 50 polling stations has 33,194 voters and Rajabala with 58 polling stations has 32,750 voters.

Polling parties leave for poll duty ahead of the bypoll to Mandi Lok Sabha seat, in Kullu, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. 

Himachal Pradesh

Voting for bypolls to the Mandi Lok Sabha and Arki, Fatehpur, and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh are taking place across 2,484 polling stations and 312 auxiliary polling stations.A total of 12,99,756 voters for Mandi Lok Sabha, 87,222 for Fatehpur, 92,609 for Solan and 70,965 voters for Jubbal-Kotkhai Vidhan Sabha seats may exercise their right to franchise.

The by-elections were necessitated following the death of sitting members.A total of 18 candidates are in the fray, including 12 for the three assembly seats and six for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat.A direct contest is expected between the ruling BJP and Congress on all seats except Jubbal-Kotkhai where rebel BJP candidate Chetan Singh Bragta is trying his luck as an independent candidate.

However, all eyes are on the Mandi parliamentary bypoll as the constituency is the home turf of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.The BJP has fielded Kargil war hero Brigadier Khushal Singh Thakur from Mandi against Congress candidate Pratibha Singh, the wife of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh.

Karnataka

Bypolls are being held at Sindgi and Hangal assembly constituencies in Karnataka where a total of 19 candidates are in the fray  – six from Sindgi and 13 from Hangal. Two candidates from Sindgi are women.There are a total of 4,39,148 eligible voters, including 230 service voters from both the constituencies, who can cast their votes at 560 polling stations.The by-elections have been necessitated as the seats fell vacant following the death of Sindgi JD(S) legislator M.C. Managuli and BJP’s 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. Managuli’s son Ashok Managuli, who has joined the party, as its candidate from Sindgi, while former MLC Srinivas Mane is its candidate from Hangal.

The JD(S), 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 B.E, M.Tech graduate Niyaz Shaikh from Hangal.This is the first electoral challenge for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai after taking charge.

Haryana

Voting for the bypoll to the Ellenabad assembly constituency in Haryana was necessitated by INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala’s resignation as MLA from the seat in January over the Centre’s farm laws.Over 1.85 lakh voters will decide the fate of 19 candidates in the fray for the bypoll.A total of 211 polling booths have been set up, and 121 of these have been categorised as vulnerable and most vulnerable, the officials said.

Gobind Kanda, brother of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and legislator Gopal Kanda, joined the BJP recently and has been fielded by the BJP-JJP combine.Pawan Beniwal, who had unsuccessfully contested the previous assembly poll against Abhay Chautala, recently switched over from the BJP to the Congress. He is in the fray as the candidate of the main opposition party.

Bihar

Polling is underway for Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan assembly seats in Bihar where by-elections have been necessitated by the deaths of sitting MLAs, both belonging to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).Altogether 17 candidates are in the fray for the two seats, eight in Tarapur and nine in Kusheshwar Asthan.The JD(U)’s bid to retain these seats is being challenged by the RJD headed by Kumar’s arch rival Lalu Prasad.

The JD(U) has placed its bet on fresh faces in both seats. In Tarapur, which has fallen vacant upon Mewa Lal Chaudhary’s demise, the party has fielded Rajiv Kumar Singh while in the reserved Kusheshwar Asthan, debutant Awadh Bhushan Hazari seeks to retain for his party, the seat his father Shashi Bhushan Hazari had won three times in a row.

The RJD, which boasts of a formidable support base in the form of the Muslim-Yaadav (MY) combination, has made the battle harder for JD(U) with its deft play of the caste card in both seats.

In Tarapur, which has so far sent only Yadavs or Koeris to the assembly, the RJD has fielded Arun Sah, a Vaishya, seeking to win over a community that has traditionally been with the BJP and its allies.

The JD(U) has been sharing power with the BJP for more than a decade and a half. It started off as a senior partner in the coalition, but of late has ceded the upper hand to the saffron party which has emerged as a near hegemonic force in the Hindi heartland.Similarly, in Kusheshwar Asthan the RJD has fielded Ganesh Bharti, who belongs to the Musahar community which aspires to get its due among the Dalits.

Lalu Prasad Yadav addressing a public meeting ahead of bypolls in Bihar on October 27, 2021. 

However, in both seats the Congress and the Chirag Paswan-headed faction of Lok Janshakti Party could to play a decisive role if the contest between JD(U) and RJD turns out to be a close one.The Congress, which has for long remained content as a subservient junior partner of the RJD in Bihar, decided to pull itself by its bootstraps after being humiliated by the domineering senior ally.

The RJD’s announcement of candidates for both seats, without taking into confidence the Congress which had contested Kusheshwar Asthan in assembly polls last year, proved to be the proverbial last straw.

The party has fielded Atirek Kumar, son of Ashok Ram who gave Shashi Bhushan Hazari a tough fight a year ago. In Tarapur, which the Congress had never intended to fight until the decision to call off the alliance, it has fielded Rajiv Kumar Mishra, a well-known social worker who is an upper caste Brahmin and had polled about 10,000 votes when he fought in the assembly polls as an Independent.

Another upper caste candidate in Tarapur is Kumar Chandan, a Rajput, who is contesting on the ticket of LJP (Ram Vilas) which Chirag heads. For Chirag, the by-polls in both seats would be a test of his strength after the split in the party founded by his father of which a major chunk has rallied with his rebellious uncle and cousin, Pashupati Kumar Paras and Prince Raj respectively.

While Tarapur falls within Chirag’s own Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, Kusheshwar Asthan is a part of Samastipur which Prince Raj represents.Chirag’s candidate in Kusheshwar Asthan Anju Devi is the only woman in the fray.

Rajasthan

Voting for bypolls to the assembly constituencies of Vallabhnagar (Udaipur) and Dhariawad (Pratapgarh) in Rajasthan to decide the fate of 16 candidates were necessitated by the death of Congress MLA from Vallabhnagar Gajendra Singh Shaktawat and BJP legislator from Dhariawad Gautam Lal Meena.A total of 638 polling booths have been set up in both the constituencies, and 119 of them are sensitive. Webcasting will be done in 64 sensitive booths and videography in 29.

In Vallabhnagar, the ruling Congress party has given its ticket to Gajendra Shaktawat’s wife, Preeti Shaktawat, while the BJP has fielded Himmat Singh Jhala.The Congress has fielded Nagraj Meena in Dhariawad against BJP candidate Khet Singh Meena.

Madhya Pradesh

As many as 48 candidates are in the fray in to one Lok Sabha and three assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh where straight fights are expected between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress.Altogether 26,50,004 voters are eligible to exercise franchise during the bypolls.Sixteen candidates each are in the fray for by-polls to Khandwa Lok Sabha seat and Raigaon (SC) Assembly constituency.

Ten candidates are in the fray in Prithvipur and six in Jobat (ST) assembly constituencies.The Khandwa parliamentary seat and Raigaon assembly seat in Satna district were held by the BJP while Jobat in Alirajpur and Prithvipur in Niwari districts were with the Congress.

In Khandwa, the BJP has fielded former district panchayat president Gyaneshwar Patil, denying the ticket to Harshvardhan Chauhan, the son of sitting MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan whose demise necessitated the bypoll. The Congress has fielded former MLA Rajnarayan Singh Purni.

Deceased BJP Lok Sabha member from Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan. 

In Jobat, Sulochana Rawat is the BJP’s nominee against Congress candidate Mahesh Patel. The seat fell vacant due to the death of sitting Congress legislator Kalawati Bhuria.Rawat, a former MLA, joined the BJP recently after quitting Congress. She had won from Jobat on Congress’s ticket in 1998 and 2008.

In Raigaon (SC) seat, the BJP has fielded Pratima Bagri, the daughter-in-law of MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri whose death necessitated the bypoll. She will face Congress’ Kalpana Verma.Verma had been defeated by Jugal Kishore Bagri in the 2018.

In Prithvipur, the BJP has fielded former Samajwadi Party leader Shishupal Singh against Congress’s Nitendra Rathore, the son of former minister Brajendra Singh Rathore whose death necessitated the bypoll.

Bengal

By-polls to the four assembly constituencies of Dinhata in Cooch Behar, Shantipur in Nadia, Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas districts will be taking place in West Bengal.In Dinhata, TMC’s heavyweight north Bengal leader Udayan Guha is fighting to reclaim the seat which BJP had snatched from him by a whisker in polls held last April.

The by-election at Dinhata were necessitated by the resignation of Nisith Pramanik, now Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, who favoured keeping his Lok Sabha membership over sitting in the opposition in West Bengal’s assembly.Guha, a two-time MLA from Dinhata, is up against BJP’s Ashok Mandal, who as a TMC candidate had defeated him, a Forward Bloc candidate then, in 2006.

The bypoll to Shantipur was necessitated by the resignation of BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar, who too resigned from the assembly seat in favour of retaining his Lok Sabha membership.State minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, who resigned from Bhabanipur to facilitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s election to the Assembly, is fighting from Khardah, where TMC’s Kajal Sinha died due to COVID-19, just days after polls to the seat were held Bypoll to the Gosaba seat in Sunderbans was also necessitated by the death of TMC’s Jayanta Naskar, who too was suffering from Covid.

Assam

Polling for bye-elections to five Assam assembly constituencies will see 7.96 lakh voters decide the electoral fate of 31 contestants.Voting will take place in 1,176 polling stations, including 285 in Gossaigaon, 213 in Bhabanipur, 322 in Tamulpur, 183 in Mariani and 173 in Thowra constituencies.

The prominent contestants include Rupjyoti Kurmi, Sushanta Borgohain, Phanidhar Talukdar (all BJP); Luhit Konwar, Jowel Tudu, Sailendra Nath Das, Bhaskar Dahal, Monuranjan Konwar (all INC); Krishna Gogoi (CPI); Jiron Basumatary, Jolen Daimary (both UPPL); Dhruba Kumar Brahma Narzary (BPF); Jubbar Ali and Khairul Anam Khandakar (both AIUDF).Bye-election in Gossaigaon and Tamulpur were necessitated due to death of the sitting MLAs, while the incumbents of Bhabanipur, Mariani and Thowra resigned from their seats to join the ruling BJP.

Andhra Pradesh

Bypolls will also be held in Andhra Pradesh’s Badvel seat, which fell vacant following the death of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) legislator Gunthoti Venkatasubbaiah.The ruling YSRCP’s candidate is Venkatasubbaiah’s widow, Dr Dasari Sudha. The TDP candidate is Dr. Obulapuram Rajasekhar.

Maharashtra

As many as 12 candidates, including of main contenders Congress and the BJP, are left in the fray for the October 30 bypoll to the Deglur-Biloli assembly seat in Nanded district of Maharashtra.As many as nine candidates opted out of the race on the last day of withdrawal of nominations on Wednesday.

The Congress has fielded Jitesh Raosaheb Antapurkar, the son of the deceased MLA, while the BJP has nominated Subhash Sabne, a former Shiv Sena legislator who recently joined the main opposition party in the state.

Telangana

The by-election to Huzurabad assembly constituency in Telangana sees the ruling TRS, opposition BJP and Congress locked in a triangular contest.As many as 2,37,036 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, district collector RV Karnan said on Friday. They include 1,17,933 male and 1,19,102 female voters.The polls were necessitated by the resignation of Eatala Rajender in June following his removal from the state Cabinet over allegations of land grabbing.

Rajender, who dismissed the allegations, has quit the TRS and joined the BJP. He is seeking re-election on BJP ticket.Though as many as 30 candidates are in the fray, the main contest is among Gellu Srinivas Yadav (TRS), Eatala Rajender (BJP) and Venkat Balmoori (Congress).