The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It is leading in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat.

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During the bypoll, the Opposition party had accused the Congress of misusing official machinery against political opponents. The AAP, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and civic polls, is desperately looking for a victory in Shahkot. The Congress is confident of maintaining the winning momentum by wresting the seat from rival SAD.

While the SAD is striving to retain its pocket borough from where Kohar was elected five-times, the results for the ruling Congress in Punjab is being seen as a barometer for the popularity of the 14-month-old Amarinder Singh dispensation.

The Shahkot Assembly bypoll results, which will be out on Thursday, is being seen as a popularity test for the 14-month-old Congress government in Punjab, with opposition SAD striving to retain its stronghold.

Further, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were taken to polling booths in private vehicles which was against the rules, he alleged. He also claimed that while EVMs are normally procured from the state-run BHEL or Electronic Corporation of India (ECIL), this time the machines

"The voting percentage in Palghar, as confirmed by the polling officer, was 46.5 earlier. It increased to 52.3 in the morning. How is this possible unless there is some major problem with the system," Sena MP Arvind Sawant said, speaking to reporters.

A Shiv Sena MP today questioned `overnight' increase in the voting percentage of the May 28 bye-poll for the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra. Poll officials, however, said such a revision was normal.

The Lok Sabha seats include Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, Palghar, and Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra and the sole parliamentary constituency in Nagaland. The Assembly consituencies are Noorpur (Uttar Pradesh), Shahkot (Punjab), Jokihat (Bihar), Gomia and Silli (Jharkhand), Chengannur (Kerala), Palus Kadegaon (Maharashtra), Ampati (Meghalaya), Tharali (Uttarakhand) and Maheshtala (West Bengal).

The counting of votes for 10 Assembly constituencies and four Lok Sabha seats across 10 states will be held on Thursday. The seats had gone to polls on 28 May.

In Shahkot, Congress candidate Hardev S Laddi from the constituency was named in an FIR for his alleged involvement in illegal sand mining. Parminder Singh Bajwa, SHO who lodged an FIR against Laddi had resigned and cited political pressure to be the cause. Later, Captain Amarinder Singh, during campaigning, had stated that government would help Bajwa fight mental disorder.

Three ballot units, three control units and technical problems in the EVMs, VVPATs came to light during the polling at 384 places, according to the Election Commission. The voting was disrupted for more than two hours at 73 polling booths in Saharanpur and Shamli due to which the repolling was done on 30 May.

The voting on Kairana Lok Sabha seat was held on May 28th last and re-polling due to dysfunction of EVM, VVPAT machine at 73 booths was held on 30 May.

Daljit Singh Cheema who is the senior vice-president of SAD shot off a complaint to Election Commission of India against a press conference by Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar in Punjab Bhawan, Chandigarh. Former deputy chief minister of the state Sukhbir Singh Badal had also asked the Election Commission to check distribution of liquor in the constituency prior to the poll.

The counting for the Kairana Lok Sabha seat will be done at Saharanpur while for the Noorpur Vidhan Sabha seat the counting will be done in Bijnor. The Kairana parliamentary constituency has five assembly segments- Shamli, Thana Bhawan, Kairana, Gangoh and Nakud.

The by-elections to Gomia and Silli Assembly seats in Jharkhand were necessitated following the conviction of Yogendra Mahto (Gomia) and Amit Mahto (Silli). Both were elected on Jharkhand Mukti Morcha tickets in the 2014 Assembly election.

JD(U) candidate Murshid Alam, who arrived at the Jokihat counting centre, said he was sure of his victory. “A few months ago, we saw how the RJD’s Lok Sabha tickets were given only to the family members of the late Taslimuddin Alam. This kind of nepotism has not gone down well with the public, who did not vote for that family and have voted for me instead. In this election, the NDA will win with large vote margins,” he said.

Watch: JD(U) candidate Murshid Alam in Jokihat says he was sure of his victory

In Gomia in Jharkhand, the main contest was between Madhavlal Singh of BJP and Lambodar Mahto of All Jharkhand Students Union's (AJSU's) as well as Babita Devi, wife of disqualified MLA Yogendra Mahto of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Babita Devi.

Shiv Sena candidate from Palghar, Shriniwas Wanga is the son of late BJP MP Chintaman Wanga whose death in January necessitated the bypoll, while the BJP fielded Congress deserter Rajendra Gavit.

Shiv Sena, which is part of the BJP led government in Maharashtra and centre, had fielded a candidate against the BJP making it an interesting contest. Recent brickbats between Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Shiv Sena chief, Uddhav Thackeray also makes the contest interesting.

The Muslim-dominated Jokihat/Araria constituencies have traditionally been a stronghold of the late Mohammed Taslimuddin and his family. His son and former Johikat MLA Sarfaraz Alam became the MP from Araria in the by-polls necessitated earlier this year after the death of his father. To fill the vacant seat, this time RJD is fielding his younger son Shahnawaz Alam against JD(U)’s Murshid Alam and an independent candidate Mohammad Shabbir. This is a crucial election for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has seen his popularity rating among minorities dip after he joined hands with the BJP.

Counting is scheduled to begin for this assembly by-election from 8 am on Thursday. The constituency registered a polling percentage of 53 percent on Monday.

Allegations of tampering with EVM machines and snags in VVPAT machines were reported from different corners of the country where voting for 10 assembly and four parliamentary bypolls took place. Opposition parties alleged that the BJP had tempered with the EVMs, a claim that was refuted by the latter stating it to be a bogey raised before losing the elections.

A total of 70 polling officials are present at the sports complex in Jalandhar district where counting of votes is taking place. The counting will take place in 16 rounds.

Counting for Maheshtala by-elections are going to start at Batanagar Bidyalay. The by-election was necessitated due to the death of MLA Kasturi Das. The main candidates for this Bidhan Sabha segment are Dulal Das (from TMCP), the husband of the departed MLA; Prabhat Pratim Chaudhury (CPM) and Sujit Ghosh (BJP).

Election officials are preparing for counting at the BSL Plus 2 High School in Bokaro. Here, the main contenders are BJP’s Madhavlal Singh, AJSU’s Lambodar Mahto and JMM’s Babita Devi.

The Panchayat Elections in West Bengal witnessed a violence that shook the whole state. In the whole election process, including the nomination, 45 were killed. Aftermath the wake of violence, stricter measures were taken for security during Maheshtala bypolls. The counting is also witnessing a strict security with proper checking. For safety measures, an ambulance and a fire tender are kept nearby the counting centre so that quick measures can be taken if needed.

Preparations for counting are nearly complete with party agents starting to arrive at the counting hall. The ARO and other counting officials have also taken their seats at the table. A total of 14 tables have been set up and the counting will be done in 24 rounds.

Several police personnel are present outsideSri Jnanakshi Vidyaniketan where counting for the Karnataka assembly constituency is set to take place. This is a closely-watched seat which was mired in controversy ahead of the polls on 12 May when close 10,000 voter IDs were seized from an apartment. This and the two more by-elections coming up can either strengthen or weaken the BJP's hand, considering it emerged as the single largest party and yet was unable to form the government.

Counting has begun at counting centre BSL High School in Sector-1/B amid tight security arrangements. There are 20 counting tables and counting will go 18 rounds.

The first round of counting has completed. Congress candidate Hardev Singh Laddi is ahead by margin of 1,000 votes.

The first round of counting has completed in Maheshtala. Dulal Das (TMC) is leading with 8,567 votes while Prabhat Pratim Chaudhury (CPM) and Sujit Ghosh (BJP) are in second and third positions respectively with 1,074 and 268 votes.

Araria’s District Magistrate Himanshu Sharma, who is present at the counting centre, said the strong room has been opened and the counting will begin any time now. One postal ballot has been received and counting of EVMs will commence after that has been dealt with, which won’t take long. “This time, the EC has installed two micro-observers who will randomly select two machines after each round and verify that the table count matches their own.”

The result for the second round of counting is out. TMC is leading with 14679 votes. CPM is in second position with 2390 votes and BJP in third with 1,312 votes.

The Congress workers are shouting slogans predicting their candidate's victory much before even the announcement of first round of counting. An FIR was filed against Munirathna pertaining to the case of voter ID seizures.

The counting for the postal ballotshas been completed, with the Congress getting 16 votes and NPP 7. EVM counting is expected to begin soon in this crucial seat which will determine the single largest party in Meghalaya. Currently, the Congress and NPP both have 20 seats each in the Assembly. Ampati is former chief minister's stronghold, from where his daughter Miani D Shira is now being fielded.

The counting for the postal ballotshas been completed, with the Congress getting 16 votes and NPP 7. EVM counting is expected to begin soon in this crucial seat which will determine the single largest party in Meghalaya. Currently, the Congress and NPP both have 20 seats each in the Assembly. Ampati is former chief minister's stronghold, from where his daughter Miani D Shira is now being fielded.

After the first round of counting, the competition here seems close with INC registering 2,624 votes, NPP getting 2142 votes and 89 votes going toward the independent candidate.

JD(U) reverses RJD's early lead and their candidate Murshid Alam is now in the lead with 8103 votes, with Shahnawaz Alam trailing with 5275 votes.

There will be 21 rounds of counting all together. After BJP's rise in vote count post panchayat elections, all eyes shifted to Maheshtala bypolls to see whether BJP will gain any more seats. However, till now, BJP is in the third position.

In first round of counting in Gomia bypolls, BJP candidate Madhavlal Singh is ahead with 1,541 votes. AJSU's Lambodar Mahto is in second position.

In the Chengannur bypoll, CPM Candidate Saji Cheriyan is leading with a vote share of 5,902. Congress has 3,716, while BJP has 2,865.

TMC leading by 18,169. BJP and CPM came close in this round but again BJP surpassed CPM to be in the second position.

Gomia bypoll was necessitated after former MLA of JMM, Yogender Mahto was convicted in a coal theft case. To retain his seat, this time Mahto fielded his wife.

BJP contestant bag 3,778 votes in first round leaving behind AJSU, Lambodar Mahto who has second highest 2,235 votes. Wife of former MLA, Babita Devi and JMM contestant got 1,989 votes.

At the end of the second round of counting, Congress candidate N Munirathna is ahead with 16,781 votes while BJP candidate Muniraju Gowda is trailing with 7,901 votes. JD(S) candidate GH Ramachandra polled 3,606 votes.

JD(U) is firmly in the lead in Johikat with 9,332 votes, RJD's Shahnawaz Alam trail with 5,774 votes with 3,588 votes going to others.

In second round of counting things changed in Gomia. JMM candidate Babita Devi rises to the top gaining 3,732 votes. Devi was in third position in second round. However, AJSU maintained its second position by getting 3,008 votes. BJP got 1,932 votes and falls to third.

TMC is leading by 20,223. CPM takes back it's position after TMC in this round and BJP is relegated to third position.

The 6th round of counting also gave the number of NOTA votes which wasn't declared in the earlier rounds.

A close fight is ensuing between CPM and BJP for the second position in Maheshtala By-polls. CPM was in the second position during the first three rounds of counting. On 4th and 5th round, BJP surpassed CPM but lost its position to the later on the 6th round.

After two rounds of counting, INC remains in the lead but barely. NPP is close behind with 4,854 votes to INC's 5,282 votes. NPP's Clement G Momin, a former school teacher, has seemingly benefitted from the support of coalition partners like UDP.

Congress has gained a major lead of 10,500 votes against SAD in fifth round of counting. The constituency is considered to be the bastion of the SAD.

In fourth round of counting, BJP candidate Madhavlal Singh took a lead bagging 3,026 votes while the JMM contestant Babita Devi — who was leading till third round — got 1,602 votes. AJSU's Lambodar Mahto got 2,028 votes more than JMM.

BJP again clinches to first position pulling down JMM in fourth round. BJP leading with 231 votes from its nearest rival JMM. Candidates sitting with their fingers crossed.

TMC leading by 21,178 votes. BJP again surpassed CPM and by more votes at this round.

N Munirathna INC had broadened his lead with 33,520 votes against BJP's Muniraju who has 14,807 votes and JD(S) candidate GH Ramachandra who netted 5,642 votes. Kannada movie actor Huchcha Venkat, who is contesting from this constituency, got 145 votes. The total votes counted at the end of round four is 55,070.

According to reports, in Maharashtra, the BJP is ahead of Shiv Sena in Palghar, while the NCP is leading in Bhandara-Gondia. The BJP has bagged 11,405 votes so far, while th eShiv Sena has 7,900 votes in Palghar.

Several Congress supporters have gathered outside the counting centre to celebrate the news that their candidate is in the lead with 52,285 votes at the end of 6th round of counting. BJP candidate Muniraju is trailing with 20,858 votes while JD(S) candidate Ramachandra got 10,123 votes.

The chances of AJSU candidate Lambodar are improving after every round. He is maintaining second position from fourth round. There are still 13 rounds of counting left.

BJP candidate Madhavlal Singh has broadened the lead with 3085 votes from his nearest rival JMM Babita Devi after the fifth round. BJP has got 4,706 votes, followed by AJSU 3,568, and JMM 1,835 votes.

TMC is leading by 23,687. The margin between TMC and BJP remains the same in last two rounds. However, TMC candidate Dulal Das is hopeful that the margin will increase.

With 10 rounds of counting completed, RJD pulls forward strongly with 29,147 votes, leaving JD(U) at a distant second with 19,727 votes. Other candidates together have netted 9,420 votes.

The margin between CPM and BJP is increasing since ninth round with BJP in the second position. What seemed like a close fight between these two parties, now has a margin of almost 4,000 votes after the ninth round with BJP getting ahead of CPM.

TMC is maintaining it's lead strongly with an increase in margin. Now it is leading by 32581 votes.

While assembly elections across the state were held on 12 May, polling for the constituency was held on 28 May. The Election Commission had deferred polling in Rajarajeshwari Nagar after nearly 10,000 voter IDs were recovered from an apartment in the constituency.

BJP candidate ​ from RR Nagar Muniraju Gowda left the counting centre as Congress surged ahead to maintain lead in the constituency after the ninth round of counting. According to CNN-News18 , Gowda's supporters conceded defeat but the BJP leader has not made any statement on it.

CPM candidate Prabhat Pratim Chaudhury commented that, "I had to fight against money and muscle and it was a tough fight. But I am grateful to the people that they showed their support to me. I have always maintained that I don't need to win to be able to work for my people and I still maintain the same. However, I can only comment about today after getting a more comprehensive picture of the results."

Round 11 of counting for the Maheshtala by-elections witnessed an increase in the margin between TMC and BJP. TMC is leading by 35,399 votes. These are the current numbers:

The VVPAT machines, for the first time showed the voters their registered vote in this election, as per an election official. "This is a pilot initiative. The VVPAT machine will generate a slip immediately after a voter registers his/her vote to show them their voted symbol. This slip will be visible for 7 seconds before getting destroyed. This is to ensure that voters can see whether their votes have been registered according to their choice. This measures have been taken to curtail corruption. We have used this for few booths during the Vidhan Sabha elections but used them for every booth in Maheshtala by-elections. This is to test whether the same can be applicable for the Lok Sabha polls."

After 13 rounds of counting, RJD is leading with 39,777 votes, while the JD(U) is trailing with 25,723 votes. RJD's Shahnawaz Alam now with a healthy 14,054 lead.

After Congress' massive lead in Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar, chief minister HD Kumaraswamy says it doesn't matter if JDS lost. "We wanted to BJP to lose. That's it." Kumaraswamy's comment assumes importance as it gives a peek in the political mindset in Karnataka currently. The JDS-Congress combine, despite their own differences, will do anything to keep the BJP out of the state.

CPM candidate Saji Cherian is set to retain the Chengannur seat the party had won after a long time in the 2016 Assembly election. His lead has crossed 8,000 when counting reached the half way. The party had captured the seat from the Congress in the 2016 election by 7983 votes. If the trend continues Cherian will cross this.

Congress candidate Miani D Shira has won the Ampati Assembly by election in Meghalaya by around 3,100 votes, beating nearest rival of the National People's Party (NPP) CG Momin. The seat fell vacant after Shira's father and Congress leader Mukul Sangma, who won from two seats in the Assembly elections, vacated the seat.

The move helped the party to secure the Christian votes which account for 10 percent of the total electorate even while retaining its traditional Hindu votes. The CPM had sought to consolidate the Christian votes by projecting the Congress candidate Vijayakumar as a Sangh Parivar man citing the roles he play in various Hindu organisations, including the Ayyappa Seva Sangham which serves the pilgrims to the Sabarimala hill shrine. The minority community may have viewed the Congress decision to field a Hindu candidate as a sign of the soft Hintuva line the party plays in Kerala.

The CPM had made a big gamble by fielding a member of the minority community as its candidate in the Hindu-dominated Chengannur constituency. The outcome of the election shows that it has paid off well for the party candidate Saji Cherian.

Again in ninth round of counting, JMM candidate Babita Devi takes a lead from BJP bagging 6,318 votes. BJP Madhavlal Singh got 820 votes while AJSU has 3880 votes. The ninth round decreased the lead of BJP with JMM. Now, BJP is leading with only 1091 votes from JMM.

Seema Devi of JMM maintains lead of 2,870 votes from her nearest rival Sudesh Mahto of Ajsu after 9th round of counting. Seema JMM 46,924; Sudesh Ajsu party 44,054

According to reports, NCP is leading by 5,000 votes from Bhandara–Gondiya Lok Sabha seat after fourth round of counting

The vote bank of Trinamool Congress has gone up 12 percent since last year. On the other hand, the vote bank of BJP has gone up 17 percent

After 13 rounds, the Congress is ahead by 43,409 votes. N Munirathna has been declared the winner.

As Congress candidate N Munirathna wins from the RR Nagar constituency, Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao says the people of Bengaluru have blessed the party. SAD candidate Nayab Singh Kohar, meanwhile, who is trailing in the Shahkot Assembly seat in Punjab, says, "I think the EVM machines were rigged."

Taslimuddin himself had represented Jokihat in the Bihar assembly for a record five times. His younger son Shahnawaz Alam had been fielded by the RJD while the JD(U) candidate was Murshid Alam, a former Panchayat Mukhiya.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD has won the Jokihat Bihar Assembly seat with 76,002 votes. The JD(U) polled 37,913 votes. The Jokihat seat fell vacant after the resignation of sitting MLA Sarfaraz Alam. The bypoll is being viewed as a test of strength between Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and the RJD of Lalu Prasad. Having won the seat in 2015 on a JD(U) ticket, Alam switched over to the RJD in March this year and got elected to the Lok Sabha from Araria in a bypoll necessitated by the death of his father Mohd Taslimuddin.

In a statement by JDU's Ashok Chaudhary, the party accepted defeat in the Johikat bypolls. "We accept our defeat. We will work towards removing the deficiencies that led to this defeat. Even though Araria and Jokihat are not JDU seats, we wanted to try our best here."

JOKIHAT: We will work towards removing the deficiencies that led to this defeat, says JD(U)

"Many EVMs were faulty, names of about 50-60,00 people were missing from voter list. Also, within 12 hours of voting ending, the Election Commission changed vote percentage. So, all of this is very doubtful," says Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut on BJP leading in Palghar bypolls.

After winning Jokihat, Leader of the opposition in the Bihar Assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, congratulated people of Johikat on their victory. He will address the media at 1 pm.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has won the Maheshtala bypolls in West Bengal by 62,324 votes votes. The BJP is in the second position with 41,882 votes while CPM has been relegated to the second position with 30,180 votes.

The supporters of TMC have gathered around the building but the security forces have fortified the place. The presence of TMC MP and a fear of violence led to the decision of such strict measures. The roads beyond the barricade is however painted green with supporters playing colors, dancing and singing.

"People have rejected Nitish Kumar's arrogance and have put their faith in Tejashwi Yadav's young leadership. People who were with Taslimuddin ji are now with Lalu ji," says Johikat's new MLA, Shahnawaz Alam, who emerged as the winner after 24 rounds of counting with a lead of 41,225 votes.

AJSU is a coalition partner in ruling BJP government. In Gomia bypoll, AJSU broke coalition dharma by fielding candidate. When asked Mahto, he said BJP can't be blamed for his defeat as every party had its own effort.

"Who wins or loses depend on the blessings of voters. But I am sure and confident being first runner-up in this bypoll that I will surely succeed in the coming 2019 Assembly election," said Mahto.

AJSU candidate Lambodar Mahto was defeated by JMM contestant Babita Devi with very less margin of votes in Gomia bypoll. Mahto has contested election for the first time. He was an ex-Jharkhand civil service officer who took volutary retirement to contest Gomia bypoll.

“The people of Jokihat have had their revenge on those insulting their mandate. This is the gift they have given to those people distributing swords during Ram Navami. Our margin of victory is larger than the seats won by JD(U),” he added.

RJD leaders Tesjashwi Yadav, Ram Chandra Purve, Alok Mehta, Vijay Prakash and others came together to celebrate their conclusive victory in Jokihat by sharing sweets and colours. Speaking to the press, Yadav called this a victory for the people in Jokihat. “The people have given me new strength. Jokihat is a JD(U) stronghold and Nitish wasn’t able to save this seat despite the whole cabinet coming down there to campaign,” he said.

Vishwajeet had unsuccessfully contested from the Pune Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 elections.inherits a strong legacy from his father in the form of control over a Sangli-based cooperative sugar mill, several dairies, educational institutes and cooperative societies in the western Maharashtra district.

The bypoll was necessitated because of the death of sitting Congress MLA and former minister Patangrao Kadam. Vishwajeet will hold the office for just over a year, as the term of the current Assembly ends in October 2019.

Congress nominee Vishwajeet Kadam's election from Palus-Kadegaon Assembly seat in the bypoll had become a mere formality after all the other candidates in the fray withdrew their nominations.

"Increased prices of fuel and diesel are the main reason why we suffered a setback. Centre should have rolled back the hike immediately. In rural areas, when the price of fuel and diesel goes up, the prices of other commodities also go up," said JD(U) leader KC Tyagi.

It was wrong of Shiv Sena to field its candidate against us: BJP sources

Congress leader Muniratna has retained the RR Nagar seat, according to India Today TV. The news channel also said that the Congress has demanded a ministerial berth now.

"This is a defeat for those trying to divide people in the nation," said former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Opposition's victory in Kairana. "I thank all the voters who, despite a lot of heat, went out to vote," he added.

"Increased prices of fuel and diesel are the main reason why we suffered a setback. Centre should have rolled back the hike immediately. In rural areas, when the price of fuel and diesel goes up, the prices of other commodities also go up," said JD(U) leader KC Tyagi.

AJSU's Mahto performed bagged 59,211 votes. BJP's Madhavlal Singh, who initially took lead over JMM and AJSU in the first few rounds, came third, getting 42,038 votes.

JMM bagged 60,552 votes. The voters expressed their confidence in the wife of former MLA Yogender Mahto, who lost his seat after the court convicted him in a coal theft case.

BJP Sources: It’s the right of every party to expand its footprints. We had won Palghar in 2014 so we defended our seat, but it was wrong of Shiv Sena to field its candidate against us. Shiv Sena is our oldest ally and we would want our equations to remain that way. pic.twitter.com/eGqmSXiVGk

It was wrong of Shiv Sena to field its candidate against us: BJP sources

By election result 2018 LIVE updates: The NCP has won the Bhandara-Gondiya seat.

After the RJD won Jokihat seat, Tejashwi Yadav called this a victory for the people in Jokihat. “The people have given me new strength. Jokihat is a JD(U) stronghold and Nitish wasn’t able to save this seat despite the whole cabinet coming down there to campaign,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It has won the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance partner NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat. Uttarakhand’s Tharali is the only Assembly seat from where the BJP is leading. The RJD and CPM have bagged Bihar’s Jokihat and Kerala’s Chengannur Assembly seats, respectively. The JMM has won both Silli and Gomia bypolls in Jharkhand. The Congress has upped its count in Karnataka Assembly with a win in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Results in the 15 Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections are the first big test of opposition unity ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the first half the day, the Congress has secured wins in three seats — Maharashtra’s Palus Kadegaon and Meghalaya’s Ampati and Karnataka’s RR Nagar. In Kerala’s Chengannur, meanwhile, the CPM registered a massive win with its candidate Saji Cherian winning by over 20,000 votes. In Bihar, the RJD has trumped Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to win the Jokihat seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It is leading in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat.

In the first half the day, the Congress has secured wins in three seats — Maharashtra’s Palus Kadegaon and Meghalaya’s Ampati and Karnataka’s RR Nagar. In Kerala’s Chengannur, meanwhile, the CPM registered a massive win with its candidate Saji Cherian winning by over 20,000 votes. In Bihar, the RJD has trumped Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to win the Jokihat seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It is leading in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat.

In the first half the day, the Congress has secured wins in three seats — Maharashtra’s Palus Kadegaon and Meghalaya’s Ampati and Karnataka’s RR Nagar. In Kerala’s Chengannur, meanwhile, the CPM registered a massive win with its candidate Saji Cherian winning by over 20,000 votes. In Bihar, the RJD has trumped Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to win the Jokihat seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It is leading in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD has won the Jokihat Bihar Assembly seat with 76,002 votes. The JD(U) polled 37,913 votes. The Jokihat seat fell vacant after the resignation of sitting MLA Sarfaraz Alam. The bypoll is being viewed as a test of strength between Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and the RJD of Lalu Prasad.

Having won the seat in 2015 on a JD(U) ticket, Alam switched over to the RJD in March this year and got elected to the Lok Sabha from Araria in a bypoll necessitated by the death of his father Mohd Taslimuddin. Taslimuddin himself had represented Jokihat in the Bihar assembly for a record five times. His younger son Shahnawaz Alam had been fielded by the RJD while the JD(U) candidate was Murshid Alam, a former Panchayat Mukhiya.

After 17 rounds of counting in West Bengal's Maheshtala, Trinamool Congress leads with 89,318 votes. BJP topples CPM for second position with 33,737 votes while CPM has2 5,262. Trinamool is leading by 55,581 votes.

According to latest reports, NCP is leading in the Bhandara-Gondiya Parliamentary constituency by 5,000 votes. The Bhandara-Gondiya constituency comprises of six Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) segments: Tumsar, Bhandara, Sakoli, Arjuni Morgaon, Tirora and Gondiya. Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Praful Patel won this this seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections but lost it to BJP's Nana Patole in 2014.

Congress candidate Miani D Shira has won the Ampati Assembly by election in Meghalaya by around 3,100 votes, beating nearest rival of the National People's Party (NPP) CG Momin. The seat fell vacant after Shira's father and Congress leader Mukul Sangma, who won from two seats in the Assembly elections, vacated the seat.

CPM candidate Saji Cherian is set to retain the Chengannur seat in Kerala the party had won after a long time in the 2016 Assembly election. His lead has crossed 8,000 when counting reached the half way. The party had captured the seat from the Congress in the 2016 election by 7983 votes. If the trend continues Cherian will cross this.

Muniraju Gowda, BJP candidate in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Karnataka bypoll, has left the counting centre as his Congress rival Muniratna leads by 45,000 votes. Gowda’s supporters have conceded defeat but there is no word yet from the BJP leader. About 54 percent out of the 4.71 lakh voters in the constituency had exercised their franchise on 28 May.

While assembly elections across the state were held on May 12, polling in Rajarajeshwari Nagar was conducted on May 28, as the Election Commission had deferred polling there following the voter ID controversy and various other irregularities. A major row erupted over electoral malpractices and seizure of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from an apartment in the constituency, ahead of May 12 elections.

Fourteen candidates were in the fray in Rajarajeshwari Nagar polls, including incumbent MLA in the dissolved assembly, Muniratna. While BJP has fielded Tulsi Muniraju Gowda, JD(S) candidate is GH Ramachandra, who had joined the party ahead of polls, quitting BJP. Muniratna is one of the accused in the case related to voter ID cards that were found in an apartment.

The counting of votes is underway in 11 Assembly and four Lok Sabha seats across India, including for the crucial Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha bypolls. TMC has maintained its lead in West Bengal's Maheshtala. CPM and BJP are in a close fight for the second position. BJP is leading is Palghar with 56,812 votes, while CPM is leading in Chengannur bypoll. According to a report, the BJP candidate has "conceded defeat" in Karnataka's Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

The results of these two Lok Sabha seats are important for all four major political parties—BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP—as the outcome is likely to have a bearing on their future course.

"The counting of votes will start from 8 am in both the constituencies on Thursday. The final percentage of votes in Bhandara-Gondia will be revised late in the evening after the re-polling in 49 booths in the constituency ends," an election officer said.

While 53.22 percent of the 1.73 crore electorate exercised their franchise in Palghar, in Bhandara-Gondia, 53.15 percent of the total 1.76 crore voters cast their votes on Monday.

The voting was marred by allegations of malfunctioning in electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday ordered re-polling at 49 booths in five of the six Assembly segments in Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday, after allegations of malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPATs.

Former Union minister Praful Patel claimed that almost 25 percent of EVMs malfunctioned in the bypoll to Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat, while Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said those in power were contesting elections while keeping the "key and remote of EVMs in their hands".

Abhimanyu Kale, the district collector of Gondia, was transferred on Wednesday after the Lok Sabha by-election there was marred by large scale complaints of malfunctioning of the EVMs.

An FIR was filed against a polling officer in Palghar as he transported some EVMs to the counting centre in a private car against norms, after voting for the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll ended.

The by-election in Palghar was necessitated due to death of sitting BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga. The Bhandara-Gondia seat was vacated after BJP's Nana Patole resigned from the party and quit his Lok Sabha membership.

As many as 25 candidates were in the fray for the two LS seats: 18 in Bhandara-Gondia and seven in Palghar. Both the seats are crucial for the BJP. The saffron party locked horns with the NCP to retain the Bhandara-Gondia seat, while in Palghar it is locked in a fierce battle with its estranged ally Shiv Sena, despite the contest being five-cornered.

Retaining Bhandara-Gondia is important for the BJP since its MP Nana Patole had quit the party in December 2017 and later joined the Congress. Stakes are also high in Palghar as Shiv Sena has fielded Sriniwas Wanaga, son of late BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga.

The BJP had roped in Union minister Smriti Irani Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the campaign. In Bhandara-Gondia, the NCP had fielded Madhukar Kukde, while the BJP had nominated Hemant Patle. Although there are total of 18 candidates in Bhandara-Gondia, the main contest is between the BJP and the NCP.

Congress leaders in the constituency are miffed that the party gave the seat to NCP despite Nana Patole returning to the Congress fold. Patole had defeated NCP leader Praful Patel in 2014. Patel has represented the seat earlier in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP represents five of the six Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency: Tumsar, Bhandara, Sakoli, Arjuni Morgaon, Tirora, while Gopaldas Agarwal of Congress represents Gondia.

In Punjab, the Shahkot Assembly bypoll results, which will be out on Thursday, is being seen as a popularity test for the 14-month-old Congress government in Punjab, with Opposition SAD striving to retain its stronghold. The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Ajit Singh Kohar in February.

While the SAD is striving to retain its pocket borough from where Kohar was elected five times, the results for the ruling Congress in Punjab is being seen as a barometer for the popularity of the 14-month-old Amarinder Singh dispensation. During the bypoll, the Opposition party had accused the Congress of misusing official machinery against political opponents.

The AAP, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and civic polls, is desperately looking for a victory in Shahkot. The Congress is confident of maintaining the winning momentum by wresting the seat from rival SAD.

Over 76 percent of 1.72 lakh voters had exercised their franchise for the Shahkot bypoll on 28 May where the Congress, the SAD and the AAP were locked in a triangular battle.

The other bypoll seats where the results are expected on Thursday are Bihar's Jokihat Assembly seat where the main candidates are JD-U's Murshid Alam, RJD's Shahnawaz Alam and an Independent candidate Mohammad Shabbir and Jharkhand's Silli and Gomia seat.

In Silli Assembly seat, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Seema Mahto faces ruling NDA constituent All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudesh Mahto and in Gomia, the BJP and the AJUS are fighting separately. The BJP has fielded former minister Madavlal Singh and AJSU has fielded Lambodar Mahto who was a state government employee. The JMM has fielded Babita Devi, wife of Yogendra Mahto who was disqualified as legislator after he was convicted in a case and sentenced to two years in jail.

Meanwhile, in the east, bypoll in West Bengal's Maheshtala Assembly seat was held following the death of Trinamool Congress MLA Kasturi Das. The party has fielded her husband Dulal Das, while the BJP, which is trying to emerge as the main challenger to the rulign TMC, has fielded Sujit Ghosh, a former CBI joint director. The Left has nominated Prabhat Chowdhury.

The results of the Ampati Assembly in Meghalaya will be interesting as it witnessed a triangular contest, where Miani D Shira, the daughter of Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma, is the Congress candidate, Clement G Momin is the nominee of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance while Subhankar Koch is the Independent contestant.

The by-election in this constituency was necessitated after Sangma resigned from the seat as he had won from Songsak seat as well in the February 27 Assembly election.

Down south, in Kerala's Chengannur, the battle is largely between the ruling CPM, the main Opposition Congress and the BJP. The BJP has just one MLA in Kerala, and it is seeking to expand its support base in the state where politics has been dominated by the CPM-led Left Democratic Front and Congress headed United Democratic Front for decades.

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