Assembly bypolls in four states sees 50-70% turnout; ID checks, murder mar UP voting

New Delhi: A voter turnout ranging from 50 to 70 per cent was recorded in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid stray incidents of violence and complaints of irregularities against police officials and misuse of government machinery.

Polling was held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki seats in Uttar Pradesh, Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala constituencies in Punjab, Palakkad in Kerala and Kedarnath seat in Uttarakhand.

While the polling percentage in Kerala was 70.51, it was 63 in Punjab, 57.64 in Uttarakhand and 49.3 in Uttar Pradesh. The final figures are likely to change.

Acting on complaints by SP president Akhilesh Yadav against police officers checking voter cards and Aadhaar IDs, the Election Commission ordered suspension of five police personnel in Uttar Pradesh violating its guidelines on checking of voters and stopping them from casting votes.

The voter turnout in Ghaziabad was 33.30 per cent, Katehari 56.69 per cent, Khair 46.43 per cent, Kundarki 57.32 per cent, Karhal 53.92 per cent, Majhawan 50.41 per cent, Meerapur 57.02 per cent, Phulpur 43.43 per cent and Sisamau 49.03 per cent.

The SP claimed that in some places the police personnel were checking the IDs of people and deterring them from voting. The BJP also sought the intervention of the EC for checking identity of burqa-wearing women voters, claiming their IDs did not match with their faces.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Election Officer Navdeep Rinwa said five police personnel on poll duty have been suspended taking note of complaints - two each in Kanpur and Muzaffarnagar and one in Moradabad.

An incident of stone pelting was reported in Kakroli village during voting for the Meerapur assembly bypoll following a confrontation between two groups.

Senior Superintendent of Police Abhishek Singh said police promptly reached the spot and dispersed the crowd using "mild force".

SP candidate Sumbul Rana alleged that police were harassing voters in the name of checking their identification cards.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Mithlesh Pal claimed that she was informed about people from outside the constituency being called in for "bogus voting".

"These people have been accommodated in Madrasas and schools," she alleged.

Pal also claimed that bogus voting was being done by "women in burqa".

In a post on X, Akhilesh Yadav said, "All police officers who are checking voter cards and Aadhaar IDs should be immediately suspended on the basis of video evidence. Police have no right to check Aadhaar ID cards or identity cards."

Countering the opposition party's claims, BJP spokesperson Manish Shukla said the Samajwadi Party and its chief are scared of losing the bypolls.

"The SP has lost trust in the voters. That is why they have gathered external disruptive elements in the bypoll areas. According to several media reports, the faces of women wearing burqas are not matching with their identity cards," Shukla said.

In neighbouring Uttarakhand, a voter turnout of 57.64 per cent was recorded in the Kedarnath assembly bypoll.

The Kedarnath assembly seat in Rudraprayag district fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Shaila Rani Rawat in July.

In Punjab, a voter turnout of 63 per cent was recorded in the bypolls to four assembly segments

The Gidderbaha seat recorded a hight 81 per cent polling, Dera Baba Nanak 63 per cent, Barnala 54 per cent and Chabbewal 53 per cent.

A minor clash took place between the AAP and Congress supporters at Dera Pathana village in the Dera Baba Nanak segment. Workers of both parties were also engaged in heated arguments.

Heavy police force was deputed at the site to diffuse the situation.

Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the husband of Congress nominee for the bypolls Jatinder Kaur, alleged that some "outsiders" thrashed a Congress party worker at the village on the behest of the AAP and also alleged inaction on the part of the police.

AAP nominee Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, who also reached the spot, rejected Randhawa's allegations as baseless.

In Kerala, polling in the Palakkad assembly by-election saw a turnout of 70.51 per cent.

Votes will be counted on November 23.