Highlights

6.00 pm ISTCongress establishes unassailable lead in Alwar, Ajmer Lok Sabha seats
5.00 pm ISTRahul Gandhi hails Congress show in Rajasthan bypolls
4.50 pm ISTCongress still leading in Alwar, Ajmer
3.15 pm ISTSachin Pilot demands Vasundhara Raje’s resignation post victory
1.25 pm ISTCongress wins Mandalgarh assembly seat
12.50 pm ISTTMC leads in Uluberia Lok Sabha seat
12.25 pm ISTCongress moves ahead in Mandalgarh assembly seat
12.15 pm ISTTMC wins Noapara bypoll in West Bengal
11.40 am ISTCongress leading in Ajmer, Alwar Lok Sabha seats
11.20 am ISTWest Bengal bypolls: TMC leading in Noapara, Uluberia constituencies
10.40 am ISTInitial trends a mandate against the govt: Sachin Pilot
10.20 am ISTCongress’s Karan Singh Yadav leading by 61,500 votes in Alwar
10.09 am ISTCongress leads in Alwar, Ajmer Lok Sabha bypoll trends

Counting of votes for the Rajasthan Lok Sabha bypolls is underway. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Counting of votes for the Rajasthan bypolls in two Lok Sabha and one Assembly constituency is underway today. The counting of votes of the Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats is being done in the respective constituencies, whereas it is taking place in Bhilwara for the Mandalgarh Assembly seat. A total of 42 candidates are in the fray for the bypolls to the three seats, the election to which was held on Monday.In Alwar, BJP’s Jaswant Singh Yadav is contesting against Congress’ Karan Singh Yadav, while Raghu Sharma of the Congress and BJP’s Ram Swaroop Lamba are pitched against each other in Ajmer. In Mandalgarh, BJP’s Shakti Singh Hada and Congress’s Vivek Dhakad are poised for a tough fight. Here are the latest updates and developments from bypoll results:
6.00 pm IST Congress establishes unassailable lead in Alwar, Ajmer Lok Sabha seatsCongress candidates have established unassailable lead in Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan, with the party set to deal a huge blow to the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had won them in 2014. Karan Singh Yadav and Raghu Sharma were leading their nearest rivals Jaswant Yadav and Ram Swaroop Lamba by over 1.94 lakh and 80,455 lakh votes in the by-poll for Alwar and Ajmer seats respectively, Chief electoral officer Govind Sharma said. The main opposition party’s candidate Vivek Dhakad has already won the Mandalgarh assembly seat, defeating his BJP rival Shakti Singh Hada. The Congress wrested Mandalgarh from the BJP. The BJP had won all the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state in the 2014 general elections. The party, which wrested power from the Congress in Rajasthan in 2013, had 161 MLAs in the House of 200. Assembly polls in Rajasthan are due later this year. (PTI)
5.00 pm IST Rahul Gandhi hails Congress show in Rajasthan bypollsCongress president Rahul Gandhi hailed the party’s Rajasthan unit for its impressive show in the bypolls for two Lok Sabha and one Assembly seats, calling the outcome a “rejection” of the BJP by the people. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said he was proud of each of the partymen in the state, currently under the BJP’s rule. “Well done Rajasthan Congress! Proud of each and every one of you. This is a rejection of the BJP by the people of Rajasthan. #RajasthanByPolls,” Gandhi tweeted. (PTI)
4.50 pm IST Congress still leading in Alwar, AjmerCongress was maintaining significant lead in Alwar and Ajmer parliamentary seats won by the BJP in 2014, while it won the Mandalgarh assembly seat. In Alwar, Congress candidate Karan Singh Yadav was leading by 39,826 votes over his nearest rival Jaswant Yadav of the BJP after 15 rounds of counting. Congress’ Raghu Sharma was ahead of his nearest BJP rival Ram Swaroop Lamba by 23,882 votes. Congress candidate Vivek Dhakad won the Mandalgarh assembly seat defeating BJP’s Shakti Singh Hada by 12,976 votes. (PTI)
3.15 pm IST Sachin Pilot demands Vasundhara Raje’s resignation post victoryMandalgarh has traditionally been a Congress seat but last time the Bharatiya Janata Party had won the seat. Rajasthan Congress Chief Sachin Pilot said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje should resign on moral grounds. “After failing to appease voters over religion, the BJP tried polarising them over caste...It is a victory of people, party workers and all leaders,” he said at a press conference. Bypoll on the seat was necessitated after death of BJP MLA Kirti Kumari. (PTI)
1.25 pm IST Congress wins Mandalgarh assembly seatCongress candidate Vivek Dhakad won the Mandalgarh assembly seat by defeating his nearest rival, a BJP candidate, by nearly 13,000 votes. After the 11th round of counting, 41-year-old Dhakad surged ahead of BJP candidate Shakti Singh Hada, who was leading in initial trends, and emerged as the winner. He garnered 70,146 votes, defeating Hada by 12,976 votes. Hada secured 57,170 votes, Election Commission sources said. Dhakad, a law graduate, had contested assembly election in 2013 as a Congress candidate from this seat but lost to Kumari by 18,540 votes. (PTI)
#RajasthanByPolls : Congress's Vivek Dhakad has won Mandalgarh assembly seat by 12976 votes
— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2018
12.50 pm IST TMC leads in Uluberia Lok Sabha seatWest Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress won the Noapara assembly bypoll by defeating its nearest rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), by 63,018 votes, the Election Commission said. The Trinamool has also taken a lead in the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat. “The TMC has won the Noapara by-election. The BJP secured second position and the CPI(M) came third,” said West Bengal chief electoral officer Aariz Aftab. While TMC candidate Sunil Singh secured 1,01,729 votes in Noapara, the BJP’s Sandip Banerjee got 38,711 votes. The CPM’s Gargi Chatterjee was at number three with 35,497 votes. Counting of votes for the by-election in the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat is also underway with the TMC ahead by more than 4,700 votes. (PTI)
12.25 pm IST Congress moves ahead in Mandalgarh assembly seatThe Congress was maintaining a significant lead in Alwar and Ajmer parliamentary seats in Rajasthan and it moved ahead in Mandalgarh assembly seat where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading initially, as per trends available in the counting of votes for the bypolls. In Alwar, Congress candidate Karan Singh Yadav was leading by 39,826 votes over his nearest rival, Jaswant Yadav from the BJP, after 15 rounds of counting. Yadav had garnered 1,63,489 votes. In Ajmer, Congress’ Raghu Sharma was maintaining a lead of 23,882 votes over BJP candidate Ram Swaroop Lamba. In Mandalgarh, where the BJP was maintaining a lead in the beginning, Congress’ Vivek Dhakad moved ahead with a lead of 1,146 votes After 11 rounds of counting, he received 42,201 votes while BJP candidate Shakti Singh Hada got 40,555 votes. Congress dissident Gopal Malviya, who was running as an independent, garnered 22,310 votes. The BJP had won all the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state in the 2014 general elections. The party, which wrested power from the Congress in 2013 in Rajasthan, had 161 MLAs in the House of 200. It had strategised raising the tally of seats to 180 in the assembly polls due this year end. (PTI)
12.15 pm IST TMC wins Noapara bypoll in West BengalTrinamool Congress wins Noapara assembly bypoll in West Bengal, said Election Commission sources. (PTI)
11.40 am IST Congress leading in Ajmer, Alwar Lok Sabha seatsCongress is still leading the Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan’s Ajmer and Alwar.
#RajasthanByPolls : Congress leading in Ajmer Lok Sabha by 20800 votes, in Alwar Lok Sabha by 43728 votes and in Mandalgarh assembly by 116 votes
— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2018
11.20 am IST West Bengal bypolls: TMC leading in Noapara, Uluberia constituenciesThe Trinamool Congress surged ahead of its rivals in both Noapara assembly seat and Uluberia parliamentary constituency after the initial rounds of counting of votes for the bypolls. At Noapara, the ruling party stormed ahead by a massive margin of 30,000 after the sixth round of counting. TMC candidate Sunil Singh secured 46,281 votes whereas his nearest rival of CPI(M), Gargi Chatterjee, bagged 16,444 votes. Sandip Banerjee of the BJP secured 15,570 votes whereas Goutam Bose of the Congress managed to get just 4,742 votes. The TMC also took an early lead in the Uluberia Lok Sabha byelection by a margin of 4,767 votes. After the first round of counting in Uluberia Lok Sabha seat, TMC candidate Sajda Ahmed secured 6,462 votes, whereas CPI(M) candidate Sabiruddin Molla bagged 1695 votes. Anupam Mallik of the BJP and S.K. Madassar Hossain Warsi of the Congress managed 1,471 and 256 votes respectively. (PTI)
10.40 am IST Initial trends a mandate against the govt: Sachin PilotCongress leader Sachin Pilot said the initial trends in the Rajasthan bypolls are a mandate against the government.
Initial trends from #RajasthanByPolls are a mandate against the Govt, I hope our leads will increase even more. Vasundhara ji and her Govt have been totally rejected by people: Sachin Pilot,Congress pic.twitter.com/UyW82Vhfvt
— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2018
10.20 am IST Congress’s Karan Singh Yadav leading by 61,500 votes in AlwarSources at the State Election Department said in Alwar, Congress’ Karan Singh Yadav was leading by 61,500 votes over Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jaswant Yadav. In Ajmer, Congress’s Raghu Sharma was ahead of BJP’s Ram Swaroop Lamba by 3,398 votes, they said. In Mandalgarh, BJP candidate Shakti Singh Hada was ahead of independent candidate Gopal Malviya by over 3,000 votes. Congress’ Vivek Dhakad was trailing, they said. Chief election officer Ashwani Bhagat said the results would be declared before noon. There was enthusiasm at party offices of both the BJP and the Congress as they were upbeat about the initial trends. (PTI)
10.09 am IST Congress leads in Alwar, Ajmer Lok Sabha bypoll trendsThe Congress party has reportedly leading by over 30,000 votes in Alwar Lok Sabha bypoll over BJP candidate. In Ajmer Lok Sabha seat counting, the Congress candidate is leading with 7,585 votes over BJP candidate. BJP is leading in Mandalgarh bypolls. Trinamool Congress candidate Sunil Singh is leading in West Bengal’s Naopara assembly seat by-poll over his nearest CPM rival Gargi Chatterjee. Singh has got 51,694 votes, while Chaterjee has secured 19,067 votes. BJP’s Sandip Banerjee has got 17,688 votes and Congress’s Goutam Bose has managed 6138. The number of votes under NOTA were counted at 1866. (ANI)