Voters across Jharkhand, Wayanad, and several other states are heading to the polls today as crucial assembly and bye-elections get underway. The first phase of Jharkhand’s assembly elections covers 43 of the state’s 81 constituencies, with voting commencing early Wednesday morning. Simultaneously, by-elections are taking place for 31 assembly seats across 10 states and the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.
Polling in Jharkhand’s first phase began at 7:00 a.m. and will continue until 5:00 p.m., while voting at 950 sensitive booths across 31 constituencies will close an hour earlier, at 4:00 p.m. To ensure a peaceful election, over 200 security companies have been deployed across these sensitive areas. Jharkhand’s phase-one polling will decide the fate of 683 candidates, 73 of whom are women. Among them are prominent leaders like former Chief Minister Champai Soren of the BJP and Congress’s Ajoy Kumar, both vying for assembly seats in Seraikela and Jamshedpur East, respectively.
Visuals from various polling stations show enthusiastic voter turnout, with long queues forming early in the day. Mock voting sessions were held ahead of the polls to ensure seamless processes, reflecting elaborate planning and security arrangements by the Election Commission.
In Jharkhand, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is eyeing to unseat the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led coalition. Key candidates include former Chief Minister Champai Soren, contesting from Seraikela; Congress leader Ajoy Kumar, in a tight race against Purnima Das Sahu in Jamshedpur East; and BJP’s Geeta Koda, the wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda, running against Congress’s Sona Ram Sinku in Jagannathpur. The JMM has fielded its Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji from Ranchi.
In Wayanad, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut, contesting for the Lok Sabha seat her brother Rahul Gandhi won previously. She is running against the Left Democratic Front’s Satyan Mokeri and BJP’s Navya Haridas in a high-stakes bypoll. Kerala’s Chelakkara assembly seat in Thrissur is also among the constituencies voting today.
Additional assembly seats holding by-elections include seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, and five in Assam, among others. Key assembly constituencies in West Bengal, including Naihati, Haroa, and Medinipur, and in Assam, such as Samaguri, Behali, and Bongaigaon, are also seeing high voter engagement as residents cast their ballots.
Counting of votes for these elections is scheduled for November 23, a date set to reveal the political pulse across multiple states as both regional and national parties await the results.