Indian Polls

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (PTI) The ruling Congress won three Assembly seats, while the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won one in the Punjab bypolls, the results of which were announced on Thursday.

While the Congress won the Jalalabad, Phagwara and Mukerian seats, the SAD came up trumps in Dakha.

Jaipur, Oct 24 (PTI) Seven people have been arrested for allegedly garlanding two Bahujan Samaj Party leaders with shoes, blackening their faces and parading them outside the party office here two days ago, police said.

Rajasthan BSP president Sumrat Singh lodged an FIR at the Sindhi camp police station, following which the accused were arrested on Wednesday.

The BSP workers were alleging corruption in ticket distribution in the party in the assembly polls last year.

Shimla, Oct 24 (PTI) The ruling BJP on Thursday won the Dharamshala bypoll in Himachal Pradesh, with its candidate Vishal Nehriya winning by a margin of 6,673 votes.

Nehriya defeated his nearest rival Rakesh Kumar, an independent candidate. Congress candidate Vijay Inder Karan was at the third place.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, the victory margin of Kishan Kapoor of the BJP over Sudhir Sharma of the Congress was of 2,997 votes in Dharamshala.

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (PTI) Seven ministers are trailing as both the ruling BJP and the Congress are locked in a tough contest on Thursday with no party looking set to attain majority on its own in the 90-member assembly, according to the latest trends.

The BJP, which had set a target of winning 75 seats ahead of the polls, is leading in 38 seats, while the Congress is ahead in 32 constituencies. The fledgling Jannayak Janta Party, which fought its maiden assembly polls, is also ahead in 10 seats.

Ahmedabad, Oct 24 (PTI) Of the six Assembly seats in Gujarat where bypolls were held on October 21, the Congress is now leading on four seats while the ruling BJP is ahead on two seats.

In Radhanpur (Patan district), OBC leader and BJP candidate Alpesh Thakor is trailing behind Congress' Raghu Desai by over 8,700 votes.

In Bayad (Arvalli), BJP candidate Dhavalsinh Zala is trailing behind Congress' Jashu Patel by over 700 votes.

Sensing defeat, Zala left the counting centre and even accepted his defeat.

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (PTI) With the Haryana assembly heading for a fractured mandate, senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday urged non-BJP outfits to join hands.

"This mandate is against the BJP. The JJP, INLD and others, including the Independents, should join hands with the Congress to keep the BJP at bay," Hooda told reporters in Rohtak.

On being asked if the Congress had made an offer of the chief minister's post to Jannayak Janta Party chief Dushyant Chautala, Hooda said no such talk had taken place.

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (PTI) Congress candidate Indu Bala won from Mukerian seat in Punjab by defeating her BJP nominee Jangi Lal Mahajan with a margin of 3,440 votes on Thursday.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Congress MLA Rajnish Kumar Babbi. Indu Bala is wife of Babbi.

Jagdalpur, Oct 24 (PTI) The ruling Congress won the Chitrakot Assembly bypoll in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, poll officials said.

Congress' Rajman Benzam won the bypoll from the naxal-affected constituency, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, by a margin of 17,862 votes against Lachhuram Kashyap of the BJP.

Benzam polled 62,097 votes while Kashyap secured 44,235 votes.

Mumbai, Oct 24 (PTI) The ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance on Thursday looked on course to retaining power in Maharashtra as per trends available in 283 of the 288 Assembly seats.

BJP is leading in 99, Shiv Sena 61, Cong 41, NCP 49 and Independents are ahead in 15 seats as per trends available so far as per the Election Commission figures.

The Sharad Pawar led party has fared better than its parent party, which seems to have held on to its tally in 2014 elections.

Lucknow, Oct 21 (PTI) Just over 47 per cent of eligible voters exercised their franchise in the bypolls to 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

Polling began at 7 am amid tight security, officials said, adding that 47.05 per cent of electors exercised their franchise.

Gangoh in Saharanpur district saw the highest turnout with about 60.30 per cent voters exercising their franchise.

In Lucknow Cantonment, only 28.53 per cent of eligible electors cast their vote.