News Brief
Assembly Election Results: Counting Of Votes Begins For Maharashtra, Jharkhand Elections, Key Bypolls Across 15 States
Image of a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine with an EVM, or electronic voting machine. (Photo Via PIB) (Representative Image)
The counting of votes for Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections, along with bypolls in various states, has started on Saturday (23 November).
In Maharashtra, the contest is between the Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliances, while Jharkhand sees Hemant Soren’s JMM and allies taking on the NDA.
Exit polls largely favour BJP-led alliances in both states, though some predict an advantage for the JMM-Congress alliance and Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Maharashtra's single-phase election, held on 20 November, witnessed a voter turnout of 66.05 per cent, an increase from 61.1 per cent recorded in 2019.
In the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP contested on 149 seats, the Shiv Sena on 81, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP on 59 constituencies.
On the other hand, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi saw the Congress contesting 101 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SCP) 86.
Jharkhand's assembly elections were conducted in two phases—on 13 and 20 November.
The first phase involved voting in 43 constituencies, while the second phase covered 38 out of the total 81 seats.
The state recorded a voter turnout of 67.74 per cent, the highest since its formation in 2000.
In Jharkhand, the BJP contested 68 seats, with its ally AJSU Party fielding candidates in 10 constituencies. The INDI Alliance saw the JMM contesting 43 seats, Congress 30, RJD 6, and CPI(ML) 4.
Over the past few weeks, bypolls were held on 48 assembly seats in 14 states - Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Elections were also held on two Lok Sabha seats - Kerala's Wayanad and Maharashtra's Nanded.
In Kerala's Wayanad, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is contesting the Lok Sabha byelection on the same seat that her brother Rahul Gandhi used to represent before he won this time from Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli.
Bypolls were held on seven assembly seats in Rajasthan.
In Madhya Pradesh, a by-election was held in Budhni and Vijaypur.
In Uttar Pradesh, votes will be counted in the by-polls in nine assembly seats.
The bypolls results for six assembly seats in West Bengal will also be announced today.
In Punjab and Bihar, bypolls were held on four assembly seats each, results for which will also be declared today.
