New Delhi: A voter turnout of around 35 per cent was recorded till 1 pm 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.
Acting on complaints by SP president Akhilesh Yadav against police officers checking voter cards and Aadhaar IDs, the Election Commission ordered suspension of police personnel in Uttar Pradesh violating its guidelines on checking of voters and stopping them from casting votes.
Poll officials said over 31 per cent voters exercises their franchise by 1 pm in Uttar Pradesh.
The EC update showed the following voter turnout: Ghaziabad (20.92 per cent), Katehari (24.28 per cent), Khair (28.80 per cent), Kundarki (41.01 per cent), Karhal (32.29 per cent), Majhawan (31.68 per cent), Meerapur (36.77 per cent), Phulpur (26.67 per cent), Sisamau (28.50 per cent).
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 told reporters that police promptly reached the spot and dispersed the crowd using "mild force".
"The situation was brought under control, and voting continues peacefully," Singh added. It was not immediately clear what caused the confrontation.
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 told reporters that she has been 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".
On the SP president's remark that policemen should not check ID cards of voters, Pal said they must definitely check it to prevent bogus voting.
"All this is happening because of the 'flexible attitude' of the police. We have made a complaint but the police are unable to do anything at the moment," she charged.
Both the SP and the BJP sought the intervention of the Election Commission.
The SP president urged the Supreme Court and the EC to take immediate cognisance of alleged voter suppression based on video evidence.
In a post on X, 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," Yadav said.
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.
The BJP and SP also traded barbs after the body of a 23-year-old woman was found in a field near Kanjara village.
The woman's father, a Dalit, lodged a complaint at the Karhal police station in which he accused one Prashant Yadav of abducting his daughter.
Raising concern over the incident, the BJP accused the Samajwadi Party of "creating an atmosphere of terror" in its bastion.
"In Karhal, Samajwadi Party leader Prashant Yadav and his associates murdered a Dait girl just because she had refused to vote for the 'cycle' (SP's election symbol). In Mainpuri, the Saifai family and Akhilesh Yadav's goons are again trying to create an atmosphere of terror," the BJP Uttar Pradesh charged on X and attached a video of the grieving father.
In neighbouring Uttarakhand, the Kedarnath seat saw a turnout of of more than 34 per cent in the first five hours of polling.
The Kedarnath assembly seat in Rudraprayag district fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Shaila Rani Rawat in July this year.
In Punjab, a voter turnout of over 36 percent was recorded till 1 pm in the bypolls to four assembly segments in Punjab.
Officials said Gidderbaha seat recorded 50.09 percent polling, Dera Baba Nanak 39.4 percent, Barnala 28.1 percent and Chabbewal 27.95 percent.
At Dera Pathana village in Dera Baba Nanak segment, a clash broke out between the AAP and Congress supporters Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who is the husband of Congress nominee Jatinder Kaur, alleged that some "outsiders" at the behest of the AAP thrashed his party worker in the village and also accused the police of not taking action.
However, AAP nominee Gurdeep Singh Randhawa rejected Randhawa's allegations as baseless.
Bypolls to the Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala assembly segments were necessitated after the incumbent lawmakers were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Among the key contestants in the fray are former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon (BJP), Amrita Warring and Jatinder Kaur (Congress), and Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and Ishank Kumar Chabbewal (AAP).
In Kerala, brisk polling was witnessed in the Palakkad assembly by-poll with a turnout of 40.16 per cent till 1 pm.
Polling started at 7 am in 14 seats and will end at 5 pm. However, in Kedarnath it started at 8 am and will end at 6 pm.
Votes will be counted on November 23.
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