New Delhi: Gujarat’s Vadodara constituency vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the 36 Lok Sabha and assembly seats across 10 states where by-elections are being held. As polling began, the Prime Minister, in a tweet, urged voters “across the country today to vote in large numbers”.

The other states that are all scheduled to vote on September 13, are as follows.

Balloting starts in Chhattisgarh assembly seat

Raipur: The Antagarh assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh went to polls from 7 a.m. Saturday.

Only two candidates are in fray after as many as 10 candidates withdrew their nominations in one hour Aug 30. There are nearly 1.51 lakh eligible voters in this constituency and they get to cast their votes in 202 polling stations.

The election was necessitated as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Vikram Usendi resigned after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanker. Chhattisgarh has always witnessed a bipolar contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress. However, the Antagarh by-poll will be an exception.

Voting starts for Sikkim assembly seat

Gangtok: Balloting began Saturday in the by-polls for the Rangang-Yangang assembly constituency in Sikkim, officials said.

The by-poll was necessitated after Chief Minister Pawan Chamling resigned from the seat and retained Namchi-Singhithang after the April assembly polls. While the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) contestant is a 32-year-old woman, Kumari Manger, the Bharatiya Janata Party has nominated 26-year-old Bikash Basnet.

Basnet had contested in the April polls on a Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) ticket but lost by over 3,000 votes. The SKM is not in the fray this time, and is lending support to the BJP.

Bishnu Prasad Adhikari of the Congress and Rup Narayan Chamling, chief minister Chamling’s brother and an independent candidate are also contesting. There are over 11,700 electors, who will vote in 14 polling stations in three sectors.

Polling begins for four Rajasthan assembly seats

Jaipur: Polling began Saturday in four Rajasthan assembly constituencies. As many as 8.95 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes at 961 polling stations in Nasirabad, Weir, Surajgarh and Kota South.

A total of 23 candidates are in the fray, with maximum of nine candidates contesting from Surajgarh and the minimum of three from Weir. The by-elections were necessitated as BJP legislators Sanwar Lal Jat from Nasirabad, Bahadur Singh Koli from Weir, Santosh Ahlawat from Surajgarh and Om Birla from Kota South got elected to the Lok Sabha.

The main fight is between the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The counting of votes will take place Sep 16.

Polling starts in Assam

Guwahati:  Ballotting began Saturday for by-elections in Assam’s three assembly constituencies – Silchar, Lakhipur and Jamunamukh, officials said. By-election for Silchar was necessitated after Congress legislator Sushmita Dev’s election to the Lok Sabha.

The Lakhipur seat fell vacant after the death of sitting legislator and former minister Dinesh Prasad Goala, while the Jamunamukh seat was vacated by AIUDF leader Sirajuddin Ajmal after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Barpeta. As many as 25 candidates are in the fray – 12 are contesting in Silchar, five in Lakhipur and eight in Jamunamukh.

Over five lakh electors, including more than two lakh women, will be able to exercise their democratic right at 588 polling stations.

Voting starts in Tripura by-poll

Agartala: By-elections for the tribal-reserved Manu assembly constituency in Tripura began Saturday, an official said.

Tripura Chief Electoral officer Ashutosh Jindal said 38,843 voters, including 18,929 women, are eligible to vote in 46 polling stations in 38 locations. There are six candidates in the fray. The by-poll was necessitated after former forest and rural development minister Jitendra Chaudhary, who won the seat five times on the CPI-M ticket, was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Tripura East constituency.

Voters queue up in Telangana, Andhra

Hyderabad: The Medak Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana and the Nandigama assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh went to polls from 7 a.m. Saturday.

The polling in both the constituencies will continue till 6 p.m. Over 15.43 lakh voters are eligible to cast their franchise in the prestigious Medak parliamentary constituency, which was once represented by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
A total of 14 candidates are in fray in Medak but it is mainly a triangular contest.

Balloting begins in two Bengal seats

Kolkata: Voting for the Chowringhee and Basirhat (South) assembly constituencies in West Bengal began at 7 a.m. Saturday. Chowringhee in Kolkata was won by Trinamool’s Sikha Mitra in 2011 assembly polls, where the party fought jointly with the Congress.

The 200,256 electors spread across 222 polling stations have to choose from nine candidates – Trinamool’s Nayna Bandyopadhyay, BJP’s Ritesh Tiwari, Congress’ Santosh K. Pathak, CPI-M’s Faiyaz Ahmad Khan and five independents. The Basirhat (South) constituency is a seat newly carved out in 2011. Nearly 235,843 people are eligible to vote in 286 polling stations.

The BJP has made infiltration from across the Bangladesh border a major issue in this constituency. After two of its leaders were put behind bars in the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scandal, the ruling Trinamool Congress has come under under fire from its political rivals.

Voting starts in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow:  Voters began to queue up Saturday at polling stations for the by-poll in Uttar Pradesh’s one Lok Sabha and 11 assembly constituencies.

The state’s ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the main contenders in most of the assembly seats and the lone Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP, which won a whopping 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in May, has the most at stake as it held all the 11 assembly seats along with its ally Apna Dal.

The assembly constituencies which will go to the polls Saturday are Lucknow (East), Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha, Rohania, Nighasan, Saharanpur city, Bijnore, Thalurdwara, Noida, and Hamirpur.

Mainpuri is the lone Lok Sabha constituency, the number of voters in Mainpuri is 1647,176.

The biggest assembly segment in terms of voters is Noida (523,762) and the smallest is Thakurdwara (329,438).

For the Samajwadi Party, the polls are an opportunity to make a comeback, after its disastrous showing in the Lok Sabha battle where its numbers dipped from 22 to five.

The Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency was vacated by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, a grandnephew of Mulayam Singh, while the BJP has fielded Prem Singh Shakya.

The Bahujan Samaj Party has this time decided not to contest.