Seven Bypolls Across Six States: INDIA Bloc’s First Test Before 2024 LS Elections

Six states are currently hosting by-elections on September 5, involving seven seats. These states include Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Puthuppally in Kerala, Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Dumri in Jharkhand, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura. The results for all seven seats will be announced on September 8, and voting has already commenced in most of these constituencies.

The by-elections in Dhupguri, Puthuppally, Bageshwar, Dumri, and Boxanagar were necessitated due to the unfortunate demise of the sitting MLAs, while the MLAs of Ghosi and Dhanpur resigned from their positions.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi, Dara Singh Chauhan’s resignation as a Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA led to the by-election. Following his resignation, Chauhan joined the BJP, and he is now contesting against SP’s Sudhakar Singh in the bypolls.

Meanwhile, in Tripura’s Dhanpur, BJP’s Pratima Bhoumik resigned to retain her Lok Sabha seat, creating a vacancy in the assembly. BJP is fielding Bhoumik’s brother, Bindu Debnath, as their candidate against Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidate Kaushik Chanda in the Dhanpur by-election.

In Tripura’s Boxanagar, where the CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque passed away, CPI(M) and BJP will face off in the by-election.

In Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar seat, SP, Congress, and BJP are set to compete against each other in the by-election. This seat became vacant due to the unfortunate demise of BJP MLA Chandan Ram Dass. BJP is fielding Dass’s wife, Parwati, while Congress has nominated Basant Kumar, and SP has Bhagawati Prasad as their candidate.

The passing of Congress veteran Oommen Chandy necessitated the by-election in Kerala’s Puthuppally seat. In this constituency, the Congress-led United Democratic Alliance (UDF) has put forward Chandy Oommen as their candidate, while the ruling CPI(M) has nominated Jaick C Thomas.

In Jharkhand, the Dumri seat was vacated after the death of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA Jagarnath Mahto. In the by-election, Mahto’s wife, Bebi Devi, is representing the INDIA bloc against NDA’s Yashoda Devi and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate Abdul Rizvi.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, had previously won this seat in the 2019 Assembly polls.

Lastly, in West Bengal, the Dhupguri assembly seat became vacant after the passing of BJP’s Bishnu Pada Ray. BJP is fielding Tapasi Roy, while Trinamool Congress has nominated Nirmal Chandra Roy, and the CPI(M) candidate is Ishwar Chandra Roy.

This by-election holds significant importance as it marks the first display of strength for the Opposition bloc, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). This event precedes the state assembly elections later this year and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

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