By election results 2018 LIVE updates: Tabassum Hasan says people in Kairana rejected communalism

By election result 2018 LIVE updates: The NCP has won the Bhandara-Gondiya seat. After the RJD won Jokihat seat, Tejashwi Yadav called this a victory for the people in Jokihat. “The people have given me new strength. Jokihat is a JD(U) stronghold and Nitish wasn’t able to save this seat despite the whole cabinet coming down there to campaign,” he said. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It has won the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance partner NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat. Uttarakhand’s Tharali is the only Assembly seat from where the BJP is leading. The RJD and CPM have bagged Bihar’s Jokihat and Kerala’s Chengannur Assembly seats, respectively. The JMM has won both Silli and Gomia bypolls in Jharkhand. The Congress has upped its count in Karnataka Assembly with a win in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Results in the 15 Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections are the first big test of opposition unity ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the first half the day, the Congress has secured wins in three seats — Maharashtra’s Palus Kadegaon and Meghalaya’s Ampati and Karnataka’s RR Nagar. In Kerala’s Chengannur, meanwhile, the CPM registered a massive win with its candidate Saji Cherian winning by over 20,000 votes. In Bihar, the RJD has trumped Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to win the Jokihat seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It is leading in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat. In the first half the day, the Congress has secured wins in three seats — Maharashtra’s Palus Kadegaon and Meghalaya’s Ampati and Karnataka’s RR Nagar. In Kerala’s Chengannur, meanwhile, the CPM registered a massive win with its candidate Saji Cherian winning by over 20,000 votes. In Bihar, the RJD has trumped Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to win the Jokihat seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It is leading in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat. In the first half the day, the Congress has secured wins in three seats — Maharashtra’s Palus Kadegaon and Meghalaya’s Ampati and Karnataka’s RR Nagar. In Kerala’s Chengannur, meanwhile, the CPM registered a massive win with its candidate Saji Cherian winning by over 20,000 votes. In Bihar, the RJD has trumped Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to win the Jokihat seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) jinx in Lok Sabha bypolls seems to be continuing with the saffron party trailing in two out of four Lok Sabha seats — UP’s Kairana and Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies. It is leading in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra while its alliance NDPP is ahead in the lone Nagaland seat. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD has won the Jokihat Bihar Assembly seat with 76,002 votes. The JD(U) polled 37,913 votes. The Jokihat seat fell vacant after the resignation of sitting MLA Sarfaraz Alam. The bypoll is being viewed as a test of strength between Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and the RJD of Lalu Prasad. Having won the seat in 2015 on a JD(U) ticket, Alam switched over to the RJD in March this year and got elected to the Lok Sabha from Araria in a bypoll necessitated by the death of his father Mohd Taslimuddin. Taslimuddin himself had represented Jokihat in the Bihar assembly for a record five times. His younger son Shahnawaz Alam had been fielded by the RJD while the JD(U) candidate was Murshid Alam, a former Panchayat Mukhiya. After 17 rounds of counting in West Bengal’s Maheshtala, Trinamool Congress leads with 89,318 votes. BJP topples CPM for second position with 33,737 votes while CPM has2 5,262. Trinamool is leading by 55,581 votes. According to latest reports, NCP is leading in the Bhandara-Gondiya Parliamentary constituency by 5,000 votes. The Bhandara-Gondiya constituency comprises of six Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) segments: Tumsar, Bhandara, Sakoli, Arjuni Morgaon, Tirora and Gondiya. Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Praful Patel won this this seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections but lost it to BJP’s Nana Patole in 2014. Congress candidate Miani D Shira has won the Ampati Assembly by election in Meghalaya by around 3,100 votes, beating nearest rival of the National People’s Party (NPP) CG Momin. The seat fell vacant after Shira’s father and Congress leader Mukul Sangma, who won from two seats in the Assembly elections, vacated the seat. CPM candidate Saji Cherian is set to retain the Chengannur seat in Kerala the party had won after a long time in the 2016 Assembly election. His lead has crossed 8,000 when counting reached the half way. The party had captured the seat from the Congress in the 2016 election by 7983 votes. If the trend continues Cherian will cross this. Muniraju Gowda, BJP candidate in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Karnataka bypoll, has left the counting centre as his Congress rival Muniratna leads by 45,000 votes. Gowda’s supporters have conceded defeat but there is no word yet from the BJP leader. About 54 percent out of the 4.71 lakh voters in the constituency had exercised their franchise on 28 May. While assembly elections across the state were held on May 12, polling in Rajarajeshwari Nagar was conducted on May 28, as the Election Commission had deferred polling there following the voter ID controversy and various other irregularities. A major row erupted over electoral malpractices and seizure of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from an apartment in the constituency, ahead of May 12 elections. Fourteen candidates were in the fray in Rajarajeshwari Nagar polls, including incumbent MLA in the dissolved assembly, Muniratna. While BJP has fielded Tulsi Muniraju Gowda, JD(S) candidate is GH Ramachandra, who had joined the party ahead of polls, quitting BJP. Muniratna is one of the accused in the case related to voter ID cards that were found in an apartment. The counting of votes is underway in 11 Assembly and four Lok Sabha seats across India, including for the crucial Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha bypolls. TMC has maintained its lead in West Bengal’s Maheshtala. CPM and BJP are in a close fight for the second position. BJP is leading is Palghar with  56,812 votes, while CPM is leading in Chengannur bypoll. According to a report, the BJP candidate has “conceded defeat” in Karnataka’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar. The results of these two Lok Sabha seats are important for all four major political parties—BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP—as the outcome is likely to have a bearing on their future course. “The counting of votes will start from 8 am in both the constituencies on Thursday. The final percentage of votes in Bhandara-Gondia will be revised late in the evening after the re-polling in 49 booths in the constituency ends,” an election officer said. While 53.22 percent of the 1.73 crore electorate exercised their franchise in Palghar, in Bhandara-Gondia, 53.15 percent of the total 1.76 crore voters cast their votes on Monday. The voting was marred by allegations of malfunctioning in electronic voting machines (EVMs). The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday ordered re-polling at 49 booths in five of the six Assembly segments in Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday, after allegations of malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPATs. Former Union minister Praful Patel claimed that almost 25 percent of EVMs malfunctioned in the bypoll to Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat, while Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said those in power were contesting elections while keeping the “key and remote of EVMs in their hands”. Abhimanyu Kale, the district collector of Gondia, was transferred on Wednesday after the Lok Sabha by-election there was marred by large scale complaints of malfunctioning of the EVMs. An FIR was filed against a polling officer in Palghar as he transported some EVMs to the counting centre in a private car against norms, after voting for the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll ended. The by-election in Palghar was necessitated due to death of sitting BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga. The Bhandara-Gondia seat was vacated after BJP’s Nana Patole resigned from the party and quit his Lok Sabha membership. As many as 25 candidates were in the fray for the two LS seats: 18 in Bhandara-Gondia and seven in Palghar. Both the seats are crucial for the BJP. The saffron party locked horns with the NCP to retain the Bhandara-Gondia seat, while in Palghar it is locked in a fierce battle with its estranged ally Shiv Sena, despite the contest being five-cornered. Retaining Bhandara-Gondia is important for the BJP since its MP Nana Patole had quit the party in December 2017 and later joined the Congress. Stakes are also high in Palghar as Shiv Sena has fielded Sriniwas Wanaga, son of late BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga. The BJP had roped in Union minister Smriti Irani Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the campaign. In Bhandara-Gondia, the NCP had fielded Madhukar Kukde, while the BJP had nominated Hemant Patle. Although there are total of 18 candidates in Bhandara-Gondia, the main contest is between the BJP and the NCP. Congress leaders in the constituency are miffed that the party gave the seat to NCP despite Nana Patole returning to the Congress fold. Patole had defeated NCP leader Praful Patel in 2014. Patel has represented the seat earlier in the Lok Sabha. The BJP represents five of the six Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency: Tumsar, Bhandara, Sakoli, Arjuni Morgaon, Tirora, while Gopaldas Agarwal of Congress represents Gondia. In Punjab, the Shahkot Assembly bypoll results, which will be out on Thursday, is being seen as a popularity test for the 14-month-old Congress government in Punjab, with Opposition SAD striving to retain its stronghold. The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Ajit Singh Kohar in February. While the SAD is striving to retain its pocket borough from where Kohar was elected five times, the results for the ruling Congress in Punjab is being seen as a barometer for the popularity of the 14-month-old Amarinder Singh dispensation. During the bypoll, the Opposition party had accused the Congress of misusing official machinery against political opponents. The AAP, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and civic polls, is desperately looking for a victory in Shahkot. The Congress is confident of maintaining the winning momentum by wresting the seat from rival SAD. Over 76 percent of 1.72 lakh voters had exercised their franchise for the Shahkot bypoll on 28 May where the Congress, the SAD and the AAP were locked in a triangular battle. The other bypoll seats where the results are expected on Thursday are Bihar’s Jokihat Assembly seat where the main candidates are JD-U’s Murshid Alam, RJD’s Shahnawaz Alam and an Independent candidate Mohammad Shabbir and Jharkhand’s Silli and Gomia seat. In Silli Assembly seat, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Seema Mahto faces ruling NDA constituent All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudesh Mahto and in Gomia, the BJP and the AJUS are fighting separately. The BJP has fielded former minister Madavlal Singh and AJSU has fielded Lambodar Mahto who was a state government employee. The JMM has fielded Babita Devi, wife of Yogendra Mahto who was disqualified as legislator after he was convicted in a case and sentenced to two years in jail. Meanwhile, in the east, bypoll in West Bengal’s Maheshtala Assembly seat was held following the death of Trinamool Congress MLA Kasturi Das. The party has fielded her husband Dulal Das, while the BJP, which is trying to emerge as the main challenger to the rulign TMC, has fielded Sujit Ghosh, a former CBI joint director. The Left has nominated Prabhat Chowdhury. The results of the Ampati Assembly in Meghalaya will be interesting as it witnessed a triangular contest, where Miani D Shira, the daughter of Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma, is the Congress candidate, Clement G Momin is the nominee of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance while Subhankar Koch is the Independent contestant. The by-election in this constituency was necessitated after Sangma resigned from the seat as he had won from Songsak seat as well in the February 27 Assembly election. Down south, in Kerala’s Chengannur, the battle is largely between the ruling CPM, the main Opposition Congress and the BJP. The BJP has just one MLA in Kerala, and it is seeking to expand its support base in the state where politics has been dominated by the CPM-led Left Democratic Front and Congress headed United Democratic Front for decades. **Click here to follow LIVE updates on Kairana, Noorpur bypolls' results**