UP: Counting of votes begins in Ghosi assembly bypoll

Lucknow: The counting of votes for the Ghosi assembly bypoll -- being seen as the first major electoral clash between the NDA and opposition bloc INDIA -- got underway at 8 am Friday, officials said. More than 50 per cent of the total electorates in the assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh's Mau district cast their votes in the polling held on Tuesday.

Ghosi had recorded a polling percentage of 58.59 in the last year's assembly elections.

According to the Election Commission of India, the final voting percentage recorded in the September 5 assembly bypolls was 50.77 per cent.

The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Dara Singh Chauhan, who had won the seat in the 2022 UP Assembly polls, from the Samajwadi Party in July. He returned to the BJP and was fielded by the party in the bypoll.

The SP has fielded Sudhakar Singh.

In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chauhan defeated BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Rajbhar by a margin of 22,216 votes.

In the bypoll, Chauhan is being supported by NDA partners Apna Dal (Sonelal), Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) Party and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, a former SP ally.

On the other hand, SP candidate Sudhakar Singh has received support from INDIA bloc constituents -- the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, RLD, AAP, CPI(ML)-Liberation and Suheldev Swabhiman Party.

The bypoll will have no bearing on the BJP government, which enjoys a comfortable majority in the 403-member state assembly. However, its outcome could be an indicator of what is in store for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the INDIA bloc.

Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to the 543-member Lok Sabha.

A total of 10 candidates were in the fray. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has not fielded any candidate in the bypoll.