Bypolls results: TMC wins Sabang constituency, BJP leads in Sikandra, Pakke-Kessang and Likabali Assembly seats

Trinamool Congress’ Gita Rani Bhunia on Sunday won the Sabang Assembly constituency bypoll by a whopping margin of 64,172 votes over her nearest rival Rita Mondal of CPM, said media reports. Counting of votes for by-elections in Arunachal Pradesh’s Pakke-Kessang and Likabali and Uttar Pradesh’s Sikandara constituencies is underway. The results are expected to be out by afternoon. The elections for these constituencies were held on 21 December. In the Pakke-Kessang Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP is leading with 1,247 votes, while the Congress is trailing with 1,143 votes, according to News18. In the by-election to the Sikandra Assembly seat of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is leading with 18,396 votes , while the Samajwadi Party is at the second spot with 15,724 votes, said another News18 report. An estimated 84.5 percent votes were cast in the by-election to West Bengal's Sabang  Assembly constituency, where ruling All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) was locked in a high voltage fight with BJP and CPM. Earlier, opposition CPM and BJP had accused TMC of driving away their election agents from the polling booths. The EC had then said it was looking into the complaints. In Uttar Pradesh’s Sikandara nearly 53 percent of the total 3.21 lakh electorate had cast their votes in the Assembly by-election on 21 December. Sikandra constituency falls in Kanpur Dehat district, a place which gained notoriety after the 1981 Behmai massacre of 21 upper caste Rajputs allegedly by Phoolan Devi and her gang. [caption id=“attachment_4024771” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA Mathura Prasad Pal on 22 July due to illness. BJP had fielded Pal’s son Ajit Pal Singh, who fought mainly against Seema Sachan of Samajwadi Party and Prabhakar of Congress party. A total of 12 aspirants were in fray, including five independent candidates. In Arunachal Pradesh’s Pakke-Kessang and Likabali , an average 68.5 percent votes were cast during the polling on Thursday. Pakke-Kessang recorded 86 percent polling, while Likabali constituency recorded 51 percent. Former Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Kameng Dolo (Congress) contested against BJP nominee BR Waghe in Pakke-Kessang, while the Likabali constituency witnessed a multi-cornered contest featuring Kardo Nyigyor (BJP), Modam Dini (Congress), Gumke Riba of Peoples’ Party of Arunachal and Independent candidate Sengo Taipodia. The Likabali seat had fallen vacant after the death of state health and family welfare minister Jomde Kena in September, whereas, the Pakke-Kessang fell vacant after the Gauhati High Court declared null and void the election of Kameng Dolo from the seat in 2014 following an election petition filed against him by BJP nominee and former minister Atum Welly. With inputs from PTI