Bypolls to be Held in 15 Seats Across 4 States on Wednesday

New Delhi: Bypolls for 15 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab , Kerala , and Uttarakhand will take place on Wednesday, with votes being counted on November 23. However, the results will not directly affect the composition of the respective legislative assemblies.In Uttar Pradesh, voting will take place in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur, and Kundarki. A total of 90 candidates are contesting these seats, with the highest number of 14 candidates in Ghaziabad.This will be the first electoral test for both the INDIA bloc and the NDA in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh since the Lok Sabha elections.In the 2022 assembly polls, Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal and Kundarki were won by the SP, while the BJP won Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Khair. The Meerapur seat was won by BJP ally RLD.Bypolls will also be held in four assembly seats -- Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala -- in Punjab.The bypolls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. Of the four assembly segments, Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal were earlier held by the Congress , and the Barnala seat by the AAP.Forty-five candidates, including three women, are in the fray. A total of 6.96 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.The bypolls will determine the fate of key candidates, including BJP's Manpreet Singh Badal (former Punjab finance minister), Congress's Amrita Warring, Jatinder Kaur, AAP's Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Dr. Ishank Kumar Chabbewal, and BJP's Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal, and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon.Amrita Warring is the wife of Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Jatinder Kaur is the spouse of Gurdaspur MP and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.Polling will also be held for the Palakkad seat in Kerala and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.The bypoll in Palakkad was necessitated after the Congress MLA of the constituency, Shafi Parambil, got elected to the Lok Sabha from the Vadakara constituency.The Kedarnath seat fell vacant after the death of sitting BJP MLA Shailarani Rawat in July. Both the candidates, BJP's Asha Nautiyal and Manoj Rawat of Congress, have represented the Kedarnath assembly seat in the past.Nautiyal won it in 2002 and 2007 as a BJP candidate. Shaila Rani Rawat won it in 2012 on a Congress ticket. She contested the seat as a BJP nominee in 2017 and lost to the Manoj Rawat. However, she wrested the seat from Rawat in 2022.A total of 90,540 voters, including 45,775 women, in the constituency are eligible to exercise their franchise.(with agency inputs)

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Bypolls to be Held in 15 Seats Across 4 States on Wednesday

Bypolls for 15 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Uttarakhand will take place on Wednesday, with votes being counted on November 23.

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