By-elections are being held today on all 288 seats of Maharashtra Assembly and 38 seats of the second phase in Jharkhand, 15 assembly seats of 4 states and Nanded Lok Sabha seat of Maharashtra. Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm.
Out of these 15 seats, 13 seats fell vacant due to MLAs becoming MPs, 1 death and 1 going to jail. Out of which 2 seats are reserved for SC. A maximum of 9 seats of Uttar Pradesh are to be polled.
Out of 15 seats, BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) got 4 each and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Nishad Party got 1 seat each.
Maharashtra's Nanded Lok Sabha seat is vacant due to the death of Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan. He died in August 2024, just two months after the Lok Sabha elections. The party has fielded his son Ravindra Chavan as its candidate. While BJP has fielded Dr. Santuk Humbarde.
Earlier, polling for 14 seats in 3 states was scheduled to be held on November 13, but due to Guru Nanak Devji's Prakash Parva and Kalapathi Rastolsevam festivals, the Election Commission changed the date.
State-Wise Political Equations of By-Elections…
Uttar Pradesh: 2027 litmus test on 9 seats of Purvanchal, Oudh and Western UP
The 9 assembly constituencies of the by-elections are part of many political and cultural regions of the state. This is why it is being seen as a litmus test for the 2027 assembly elections.
SP has won 37 out of 80 seats and defeated BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, the BJP has lost half of its seats from 62 to 33. In this context this by-election is important for both the parties.
Both the parties have distributed tickets in this by-election keeping in mind the caste equations of 2027. BJP has fielded candidates on 8 seats. The Mirapur seat has been left for the ally RLD.
NDA has given tickets to 5 OBCs, 2 Brahmins, 1 Dalit and 1 Kshatriya. The coalition has tried to appeal to all castes even among the backward classes. For this opportunity has been given to leaders of Maurya, Kurmi, Pal, Nishad and Yadav communities.
At the same time, the SP has fielded 3 OBC, 2 Dalit and 4 Muslim candidates, repeating the PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority) formula. Although 6 out of 9 SP candidates are from political families, BJP has also given chance to new faces.
Out of these 9 seats, SP had 4, BJP 3, Nishad Party and RLD 1 seat each. In the bypolls, the BJP is focusing on implementing the Rampur model to win four SP seats. Out of which both parties have put their full strength on Karhal and Kundarki seats.
Karhal seat of Mainpuri district is considered to be the stronghold of Mulayam Singh family. Akhilesh Yadav has fielded his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav from here. He has been MP from Mainpuri. After Akhilesh was elected as MP from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat, this seat has become vacant. Here, the BJP has fielded Akhilesh's brother-in-law Anujesh Yadav as its candidate to counter the nepotism of the SP.
At the same time, BJP has given ticket to Ramveer Singh Thakur from Muslim Bahul Kundarki seat in Moradabad. He contested from this seat in 2012 and 2017 and lost. BJP won here only once in 1993. This is the reason why BJP has fielded 4 of its ministers to win this seat.
Not only this, BJP has appointed 7000 panna presidents to win this seat. Along with this, the booth president and his executive are also working wholeheartedly on a total of 436 booths. This seat is also important because it is in Moradabad, the home district of BJP state president Bhupendra Singh. On the other hand, SP has fielded Haji Rizwan on this seat. He has been an MLA from here three times.
Punjab: Reliance on dynasties and turncoats, all four BJP candidates belong to other parties
All the parties have expressed their faith in turncoat and dynastic politics in all the four assembly seats of the state. The 12 candidates from Congress, AAP and BJP include 6 turncoats, 2 MPs' wives and 1 MP's son.
All four BJP candidates have come from other parties. At the same time, the Akali Dal is not participating in the by-elections. These seats fell vacant after their MLAs became MPs. All the four seats fall in the rural belt of Punjab. Out of which three were with Congress and one with AAP.
Congress state president and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Wading's wife Amrita Wading is contesting from Giddarbaha seat. Amarinder has won 3 consecutive elections from here. AAP has fielded Hardeep Singh.
While BJP has given ticket to Manpreet Badal. He left the Congress in January 2023. Manpreet is the nephew of former CM Prakash Singh Badal and cousin of former Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal. Manpreet is the person who brought the current Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann into politics.
Congress has given ticket to Jatinder Kaur, MP from Gurdaspur and wife of former Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, on the Dera Baba Nanak seat. He has also been winning from this seat for the last three elections. However, their vote share has been decreasing every time. It was 36.70% in 2022 as compared to 50.22% in 2012.
BJP has fielded Ravikaran Singh from this seat. He contested against Sukhjinder on an Akali Dal ticket in 2022, but lost by 466 votes. He joined the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections. Akali Dal not contesting the by-election has increased the chances of Ravikaran's victory. While AAP has given ticket to Gurdeep Singh Randhawa.
AAP has fielded Hoshiarpur MP Dr. from Chabbewal seat. Ishank Chabbewal, son of Rajkumar, has been given the ticket. Rajkumar became an MLA from Chabbewal on a Congress ticket in 2022. He joined AAP before the Lok Sabha elections and became an MP.
Congress has given ticket to Ranjit Kumar from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Ranjit, who had been the president of the District Bar Association, had contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BSP ticket from Hoshiarpur. He was associated with BSP since the time of Kanshi Ram.
At the same time, BJP has fielded Sohan Singh Thandal as its candidate for this seat. He left the Akali Dal and joined the BJP a day before the deadline for nominations.
AAP has fielded Harinder Singh Dhaliwal, a friend of Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Hyer, for the Barnala seat. BJP has fielded two-time MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon from the Congress. Congress has given ticket to Kuldeep Singh.
Uttarakhand: Congress-BJP trust former MLAs, CM Dhami also participates in campaigning.
Both Congress and BJP parties have expressed confidence in their former MLAs for the by-election. Congress has given ticket to Manoj Rawat who became MLA in 2017 from this seat. The party has fielded him ignoring many big names. He stood third in the 2022 assembly elections. However, he remained active in the area. This is the reason why the party has expressed confidence in him.
BJP has fielded former MLA Asha Nautiyal twice. He has been an MLA from the same seat in 2002 and 2007. He lost to Shailarani Rawat of Congress in 2012. Asha Nautiyal is also the state president of Mahila Morcha. BJP has used its full strength. From state president to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is busy campaigning.
Kerala: Confrontation between Congress and BJP, Congress rebels make the by-election interesting
Palakkad, one of the two assembly seats in the state, will go to polls on Wednesday. Another seat, Chelakkara, has been polled on November 13. The Palakkad assembly seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Shafi Parambil was elected as MP from Vadakara.
Congress has given ticket to Youth Congress state president Rahul BR and BJP to its state general secretary C Krishnakumar. Krishnakumar has also been a four-time councilor and vice president of Palakkad Municipality.
BJP candidate E Sreedharan lost from this seat in 2021 assembly elections by just 3859 votes. This time too there is a fight between Congress and BJP. Sangh is also engaged in election campaign with full strength. Volunteers from many other districts have also been camping here for weeks.
Along with this, independent candidate P Sarin has made the by-election interesting. He was the head of the state digital media cell of the Congress. When Sarin expressed displeasure over Rahul BR getting a ticket, the Congress expelled him from the party on 17 October for anti-party activities. Sarin, who was an Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) officer, is now contesting as an independent.
Maharashtra: Nanded Lok Sabha by-election, former CM Ashok Chavan's credibility at stake.
The Nanded Lok Sabha seat in the Marathwada region has become a credibility issue for both the BJP and the Congress. The challenge is tougher for the BJP as the party suffered a crushing defeat in the constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.
Congress has given ticket to late MP Vasantrao's son Ravindra Chavan. While BJP has fielded Dr. Santuk Humbarde. The special thing is that Santuk's brother Mohan Humbarde is a retired Congress MLA from South Nanded and is contesting this time as well. He is considered close to former CM Ashok Chavan.
Nanded is the stronghold of veteran Congress leader Ashok Chavan (now in BJP). His father has also been the CM. Chavan family dominates all the elections like local body, assembly, Lok Sabha. After Chavan joined the BJP in February 2024, the Congress was considered to be in a bad position here, but Vasantha Rao's victory surprised everyone.
Chavan's daughter Sreejay is also starting a political bid from Bhokar assembly seat in Maharashtra elections. This seat also falls in Nanded Lok Sabha. This is the reason why Ashok Chavan's reputation is at stake in this election.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
