Narayanasamy wins Puducherry bypoll, AIADMK leads in all 3 Tamil Nadu seats; CPI-M emerges winner in Tripura electoral battle

New Delhi: Counting of votes is underway for four Lok Sabha and eight Assembly constituencies, spread across six states and one union territory where by-elections were held on Saturday.
The Lok Sabha seats are Lakhimpur in Assam, Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh and Cooch Behar and Tamluk Parliamentary seats in West Bengal.
The Assembly seats are in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Assam
The BJP leading by 24,312 votes on Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat, Congress on second spot with 12,484 votes.
The outcome of the bypoll will be the first test for the Sarbanand Sonowal-led BJP government as well as newly-appointed state Congress president Ripun Bora.
Both the seats are likely to witness a straight contest between the NDA and the Congress.
Five candidates are in the fray for the Lakhimpur seat while the political fate of three candidates will be decided at Baithalangso Assembly seat.
Over 66 percent polling was reported at Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat while over 74 percent voters exercised their voting rights at Baithalangso Assembly seat.
In Assam, the counting of votes for Lakhimpur Lok Sabha and Baithalangso Assembly by-polls is being held amid tight security.
Madhya Pradesh
BJP’s Manju Dadu wins Nepanagar Assembly seat by 40,600 votes.
The BJP is leading by 10,000 votes on Nepanagar Assembly seat.
The BJP is leading by 10,800 votes on Shahdol Lok Sabha seat.
Even the Nepanagar seat is being fought between BJP`s Manju Dadu and Congress` Antar Singh. There are only four candidates for this seat.
For the Shahdol seat, Congress` Himadri Singh and BJP`s Gyan Singh were putting up a close fight. There are 17 candidates vying for this seat that fell vacant when BJP MP Dalpat Singh Paraste passed away in June.
The counting for the Shahdol seat was being carried out at four district headquarters, while the Nepanagar counting was at Burhanpur district headquarter.
The counting of votes in Madhya Pradesh`s Shahdol parliamentary constituency and Nepanagar Assembly constituency began amid tight security on Tuesday morning.
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
Congress wins Nellithoppu Assembly seat in Puducherry.
Similarly, in Puducherry, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy has established a lead over his nearest AIADMK rival.
As per reports, AIADMK candidates in Thirupparankundram and Aravakkurihchi seats have too established lead.
According to Election Commission, in Thanjavur constituency, AIADMK has shot into a lead after two rounds of counting.
The Election Department has made all the arrangements for counting.
In Thirupparankundram, the by-election has been necessitated by the death of AIADMK`s legislator SS Seenivel.
In Thanjavur, AIADMK`s M Rengasamy is pitted against DMK`s Anjugam Bhoopathy.
In Aravakkurichi, ruling AIADMK`s V Senthil Balaji is fighting against the DMK`s KC Palanisamy while at Thirupparankundram the AIADMK`s AK Bose is facing DMK`s P Saravanan.
The results will be announced today for Thanjavur, Aravakurichi and Tiruparakundram Assembly bye-elections held in Tamil Nadu on Saturday.
Narayanasamy, who is not a member of the territorial assembly, emerged as a compromise candidate for Chief Minister`s post after May 16 Assembly Elections. This election is crucial for him as his continuance in the post depend on the outcome of the bypoll.
For Om Sakthi Sekar, two-time MLA from the constituency, the electoral battle was an opportunity to prove himself after the defeat in the last Assembly Elections.
The by-election saw a fierce electoral battle between Congress candidate and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and AIADMK`s Om Sakthi Sekar.
As bypoll was held in a single constituency the result is expected by 10 am.
In Puducherry, counting of votes of the Nellithoppe Assembly by-election has begun.
Tripura
CPI-M wins both Barjala and Khowai Assembly seats in Tripura.
Mainly four parties – CPI (M), TMC, Congress and BJP – are in the fray. There are around 39,000 voters in each constituency.
First postal ballots and then EVM votes will be counted under the supervision of central election observers. Both the centres will be having CCTV for surveillance during the counting of votes.
Counting will be done in four rounds.
In Barjala, the counting is being held at Umakant Academy complex whereas in Khowai the counting is being held at SDM Office campus hall.
In Tripura, the counting of votes for bypoll in Barjala and Khowai Assembly constituencies began at 8 am amidst tight security.
West Bengal
After seven rounds of counting, Trinamool takes a lead of over 76,000 votes in Monteshwar AC.
The Trinamool is leading by over 53,000 votes in Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat, it added.
On its Twitter account, Trinamool Congress said it is leading in Tamluk Lok Sabha seat by over 96,000 votes and leading in Monteshwar Assembly constituency by 55,000 votes.
Counting is underway for the by-elections held in Cooch Behar and Tamluk Lok Sabha constituencies and Monteswar Assembly constituency.
A high voter turnout of 81 percent was recorded in the by-elections held in two Lok Sabha and one Assembly constituency in West Bengal on Saturday.