While all eyes are set on the outcome of the Bihar Assembly polls, the country is also witnessing by-elections to a handful of seats across the country. From Telangana in the south to Mizoram in the northeast and Kashmir in the north, fierce campaigning was underway despite the incumbent party/alliance having a natural edge.
BJP's Jay Dholakia was leading from Odisha's Nuapada Assembly segment where a by-election is underway. Congress candidate Ghasi Ram Majhi and Biju Janata Dal's Snehangini Chhuria were behind the ruling side's candidate by far, early trends showed. Meanwhile, National Conference's Aga Syed Mahmood Al-Mosavi was ahead in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam, while BJP's Devyani Rana was in control in Nagrota. BJP leader Devender Singh Rana's passing necessitated the by-election, and the saffron party fielded his daughter as its candidate. Nagrota went for polling on Tuesday, when a voter turnout of more than 75 per cent was recorded.
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Congress candidate Pramod Jain was ahead of BJP's Morpal Suman and independent candidate Naresh Meena from Rajasthan's Anta, while Mizo National Front's Dr R Lalthangliana was leading in Dampa seat. Anta had recorded a voter turnout of 80.21 per cent during the polling held on November 11. In Telangana's Jubilee Hills, BRS candidate Sunita Gopinath and BJP’s L Deepak Reddy were trailing behind Congress nominee Naveen Yadav.
Elsewhere, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Somesh Chandra Soren was leading BJP's Babu Lal Soren in Ghatsila and Akali Dal's Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa was leading in Punjab's Tarn Taran. The Tarn Taran assembly seat fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June.