By-Elections Result 2018 Live Updates: BJP Ahead in 2 Lok Sabha Seats, Loses Early Leads in Kairana

Kairana Update | The BJP has lost the early leads in the Kairana Lok Sabha bypoll to the SP-RLD. The saffron party is locked in an intense fight with combined opposition, including the RLD, SP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress.

Rajarajeshwarinagar Update | Congress candidate Munirathna is leading in the Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly seat in Karnataka by more than 8,000 votes against BJP’s Muniraju Gowda. The elections to the Assembly segment were deferred due to the seizure of 9,564 Election Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) from an apartment at Jalahalli. The polling officers had also found a huge cache of freebies belonging to a political party. Following the directions of the Election Commission, police investigated the matter and registered a case against against many people, including Congress candidate Munirathna. The constituency has 4.71 lakh voters including 2.25 lakh women. There are 421 polling stations in the constituency. After the May 12 assembly elections, the equations have changed dramatically with political rivals Congress and JD(S) becoming coalition partners in the government. However, senior leaders of both the parties held road shows seeking votes for their respective candidates. The BJP, too, put in all its efforts to ensure the victory of their candidate Muniraju Gowda. 

Gomia Update | BJP's Madhavlal Singh is leading against JMM's Babita Devi by around 1,500 votes, while BJP's alliance partner AJSU candidate Lambodar Mahto is trailing in third position. Gomia is one of the 81 Assembly seats in Jharkhand and is located in the Bokaro district of the state.

Kairana Update | BJP’s Mriganka Singh, the daughter of Hukum Singh whose death necessitated the bypolls, is leading over Tabassum Hasan, the join SP-RLD candidate.

Chengannur Update | CPM candidate Saji Cheriyan is leading from the Chengannur Assembly seat in Kerala. Chengannur constituency, in the Alappuzha district, had been, except in the May 2016 assembly elections, a Congress bastion for nearly three decades. The CPI-M has fielded its Alappuzha district secretary Saji Cheriyan, Congress has nominated long time aspirant D Vijayakumar, while the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate is its former state party chief PS Sreedharan Pillai, who in 2016 polls came a close third to the sitting Congress legislator P.C.Vishnunath, who lost to Nair. The BJP has just one MLA in Kerala, and it is seeking to expand its support base in the state where politics has been dominated by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and Congress headed United Democratic Front for decades. 

Jokihat Update | RJD candidate Shahnawaz is leading from the Jokihat Assembly seat in Bihar. The seat fell vacant following the resignation of ruling JD-U MLA Sarfaraz Alam, who joined opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The main candidates in the bypolls are JD(U)'s Murshid Alam, RJD's Shahnawaz Alam and an Independent candidate Mohammad Shabbir. The JD-U was backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while the RJD had the support of the Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of former Chief Minister of Jitan Ram Manjhi. Jokihat is a Muslim-dominated assembly constituency, considered stronghold of former Union Minister Mohammad Taslimuddin, who died last year leading to bypolls in Araria Lok Sabha sest early this year. Taslimuddin's son Sarfaraz Alam quit JD-U and contested and won bypolls from Araria seat as an RJD candidate. RJD candidate from Jokihat bypolls Shahnawaz Alam is younger son of Taslimuddin and brother of Sarfaraz Alam.

Kairana Repolling | Repolling at 73 booths in Kairana Lok Sabha constituency passed off peacefully with an estimated voter turnout of 61 percent. The Election Commission ordered repolling at these polling stations in view of technical snags in EVM-VVPAT machines during the by-election on Monday. Around 80,000 voters were eligible to cast their votes at the booths where the repolling was held. Opposition Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal as well as the ruling BJP had complained of electronic voting machines (EVM) malfunctioning at these booths. On Monday, 54 per cent polling was recorded in Kairana seat, which fell vacant following the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh, whose daughter Mriganka Singh is the saffron party candidate in the bypoll. Mriganka Singh is contesting against Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan, who is also supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.

Bhandara-Gondiya Repoll | An estimated 45 percent voters cast their vote in the repolling held at 49 booths in the Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra. The Election Commission had ordered repolling in these 49 booths following complaints of malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). During the by-election held on May 28, 53.15 per cent of the electorate had cast their vote in Bhandara-Gondiya, where BJP’s Hemant Patle and NCP’s Madhukar Kukde are the main candidates along with 16 others. The by-election was necessitated by resignation of BJP MP Nana Patole, who later also quit the party. Polling for both the Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra was marred by reports of malfunctioning of EVMs and voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs). However, no re-polling was ordered in the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency.

Shiv Sena MP Questions Increase in Palghar Percentage | Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant questioned “overnight” increase in the voting percentage of the May 28 Palghar Lok Sabha by-elections in Maharashtra. Poll officials, however, said such a revision was normal. "The voting percentage in Palghar, as confirmed by the polling officer, was 46.5 earlier. It increased to 52.3 in the morning. How is this possible unless there is some major problem with the system," Sawant said. Further, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were taken to polling booths in private vehicles which was against the rules, he alleged. He also claimed that while EVMs are normally procured from the state-run BHEL or Electronic Corporation of India (ECIL), this time the machines were sourced from a private company in Surat.

By Election Results 2018 Live - Get live by elections results of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Maharashtra, West Bengal by elections (polls) seats of Lok Sabha and Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) only at News18.com.

Shahkot Assembly Bypoll Results | The result in this Punjab seat is being seen as a popularity test for the 14-month-old Congress government in Punjab, with opposition Akali Dal striving to retain its stronghold. The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Ajit Singh Kohar in February this year. During the bypoll, the opposition party had accused the Congress of misusing official machinery against political opponents. The AAP, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and civic polls, is desperately looking for a victory in Shahkot. The Congress is confident of maintaining the winning momentum by wresting the seat from rival SAD.

The polling for four Lok Sabha bypolls and 10 Assembly bypolls were conducted across 10 states on May 28. But the one garnering the most attention was Western UP's Kairana.

Repolling in Kairana and Gondia Was Held on Wednesday | Repolling in 73 booths of Kairana parliamentary constituency was held in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, a day after the Election Commission ordered to conduct re-voting amid allegations of EVM malfunctioning that rocked the Lok Sabha bypoll in Kairana on Monday. The EC agreed to the repolling recommendation made by a Returning Officer and decided to conduct them between 7 am and 6 pm. Most of these 73 booths are in Nakud and Gangoi Assembly constituencies. And five of them in Shamli. 49 booths in Maharashtra's Gondiya Lok Sabha constituency would also go for repolling after EVM malfunctioning were reported here on Monday.

The letter further said that those participated who in the recent rallies in Bhima Koregaon, Pune and Gujarat were killed and put behind bars, many educated youths were also implicated in false cases and sent to jail.

Tabassum Hasan Versus Mriganka Singh in Kairana | The BJP once again faces stiff competition in Uttar Pradesh as a joint opposition candidate in Kairana is battling against the saffron party candidate in the bypolls. Vice president of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Jayant Chaudhary had landed in Lucknow to meet with Samajwadi Party National president Akhilesh Yadav. The closed-door meeting took place at the residence of Akhilesh Yadav and lasted for almost three hours. Anil Dubey, spokesperson of RLD, made it clear that both the parties will contest the upcoming bypolls and 2019 Lok Sabha polls together. “Dono party saath mil kar up chunav aur Lok Sabha chunav ladengey (Both the parties will contest the by-elections and 2019 LS polls together),” Dubey had said. Later, both the parties declared to field RLD candidate Begum Tabassum Hasan against Hukum Singh’s daughter, Mriganka. Tabassum was first elected MP from Kairana seat in 2009 on a BSP ticket. She, thereafter, joined the SP and her son, Nahid Hasan, contested the Lok Sabha election against BJP leader Hukum Singh in 2014 but lost.

Counting of Votes for Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia Seats to Begin at 8 am | Counting of votes for the crucial Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha bypolls will be taken up today. The results of these two Lok Sabha seats are important for all four major political parties- BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP- as the outcome is likely to have a bearing on their future course. "The counting of votes will start from 8 am in both the constituencies today. The final percentage of votes  in Bhandara-Gondia will be revised late in the evening after the re-polling in 49 booths in the constituency gets over," an election officer said. While 53.22 per cent of the 1.73 crore electorate exercised their franchise in Palghar, in Bhandara-Gondia, 53.15 per cent of the total 1.76 crore voters cast their votes on Monday. The voting was marred by allegations of malfunctioning in electronic voting machines (EVMs). The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday ordered re-polling at 49 booths in five of the six assembly segments in Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency (to be held) on Wednesday, after allegations of malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPATs. Former Union minister Praful Patel claimed that almost 25 per cent of EVMs malfunctioned in the bypoll to Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat, while Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said those in power were contesting elections while keeping the "key and remote of EVMs in their hands". Abhimanyu Kale, the district collector of Gondia, was transferred on Tuesday after the Lok Sabha bye-election there was marred by large scale complaints of malfunctioning of the EVMs.

Why is Punjab's Shahkot Assembly Byelection Important | The Shahkot Assembly bypoll results, which will be out today, is being seen as a popularity test for the 14-month-old Congress government in Punjab, with opposition SAD striving to retain its stronghold. The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Ajit Singh Kohar in February this year. While the SAD is striving to retain its pocket borough from where Kohar was elected five-times, the results for the ruling Congress in Punjab is being seen as a barometer for the popularity of the 14-month-old Amarinder Singh dispensation. During the bypoll, the opposition party had accused the Congress of misusing official machinery against political opponents. The AAP, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and civic polls, is desperately looking for a victory in Shahkot. The Congress is confident of maintaining the winning momentum by wresting the seat from rival SAD. Over 76 per cent of 1.72 lakh voters had exercised their franchise for the Shahkot bypoll on May 28 where the Congress, the SAD and the AAP were locked in a triangular battle. The Shahkot Assembly constituency, considered a SAD bastion, had recorded 78.60 per cent polling during 2017 the Punjab polls. Ruling Congress had fielded Hardev Singh Laddi, while the SAD gave ticket to Ajit Singh Kohar's son Naib Singh Kohar. The AAP had nominated Rattan Singh Kakkar Kalan for the bypoll.

Counting of Votes for Bypolls to Begin Soon | The polling for four Lok Sabha byelections and 10 Assembly bypolls were conducted across 10 states on Monday. But the one garnering the most attention is Western Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana. The bypoll here was necessitated after the death of sitting BJP MP Hukum Singh in February. If we take Kairana seat as a test case then allegations which had been very strongly made by joint opposition, which includes the Samajwadi Party, RLD and Congress, is that faulty EVMs were purposely used in areas dominated by Jat, Muslim and Dalit population to deny voters their right to franchise and, thereby, help the BJP.