Counting tomorrow for bypolls to one LS, 31 assembly seats in UP

Counting of votes will be taken up tomorrow for the bypolls to Firozabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and 31 assembly seats spread across seven states held on Saturday.

In the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat, politician-turned-actor Raj Babbar is the Congress candidate and is pitted against SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Dimple. The bypoll was necessitated as SP chief's son Akhilesh vacated the
seat and retained Kannauj.

The polling, which saw a turnout of over 60%, was by and large peaceful.

In Uttar Pradesh, the byelections were held in 11 assembly constituencies — Powagan (SC), Lucknow West, Padrouna, Rari, Isauli, Jhansi, Kolasala, Hainsar Bazar, Lalitpur, Etawah and Bharthana.

Bypolls were held in 10 assembly seats in West Bengal — Kalchini (ST), Raiganj (SC), Sujapur, Goalpokhar, Bongaon, Contai South, Egra, Serampore, Alipore and Belgachia East.

In Belgachia East, Ramala, widow of state's former transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, has banked heavily on sympathy votes with actor Mithun Chakraborty and CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose campaigning for her. The West Bengal by-elections are being viewed as a dress rehersal for the 2010 assembly polls in the state and the outcome will reflect whether the ruling Left Front, that suffered a series of setbacks in some recent polls, is able to reverse the trend.

It will also show whether the Left parties have been able to put a check on the string of successes achieved by the Trinamool Congress-Congress electoral alliance.

Three seats in Kerala (Kannur, Ernakulam and Alappuzha), two each in Assam (Salmara South and Dhekiajuli), Himachal Pradesh (Rohru and Jawali) and Rajasthan (Salumber-ST and Todabhim-ST, and one seat in Chhattisgarh (Vaishali Nagar) also had bypolls.

The bypolls in Kerala have gained importance as the CPI(M)-led ruling LDF sees it as an opportunity to boost its sagging morale after the Left Front's dismal show in the May Lok Sabha polls.

The outcome of the polls is being considered crucial for measuring the popularity of the Ashok Gehlot government and determining the stance of Gujjars after the Rajasthan high court's recent stay on reservation granted to them.

Most of the seats fell vacant as sitting members become MPs.