Lucknow, 05 Sept: More than 43% of voters in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi assembly constituency cast ballots until 3 p.m. on Tuesday for the bypoll, the state’s first electoral fight since the establishment of the opposition INDIA alliance.
Voting began at 7 a.m. at 455 polling locations. It’s scheduled to end at 6 p.m. The office of the state chief electoral officer reported that 43.24 percent of ballots had been cast as of 3 p.m.
The byelection was called when Dara Singh Chauhan, who had won the seat in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, resigned from the Samajwadi Party in July. He rejoined the BJP and was nominated to run in the byelection.
Sudhakar Singh has been nominated by the Samajwadi Party to run in the byelection.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led party has accused the Election Commission of misusing official apparatus and has written to them about it. It was claimed that Muslim voters were being denied the right to vote in several areas.
Arvind Kumar Singh, a member of the SP’s national leadership, has written to the Chief Election Commissioner, stating that Muslim voters in booth 147 are being denied the right to vote by the polling officer. Despite the fact that their names are on the voter list, they are being ordered to return since their votes have already been cast, he claims.
When voters refused, the letter alleged, police and poll workers “at the behest of the ruling BJP are using abusive words to drive them away.” Depriving any voter of their right to vote is a crime, according to Singh’s letter. It further claimed that Ravindra Nath, a village chief, and Dharmendra Yadav, a polling agent, were under duress to vote for the BJP.
Chauhan beat BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Rajbhar by 22,216 votes in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Ghosi received 58.59 percent of the vote. In the byelection, Chauhan is backed by Apna Dal (Sonelal), Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) Party, and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, a former SP ally.
