BJP in Fierce Contest With Regional Parties

Polling for by-elections for seven assembly constituencies across the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh began at 7 am on Thursday. The voting will continue till 6 pm and the counting of votes will take place on November 6. The seven assembly constituencies where the elections are being held are Andheri East from Maharashtra, Adampur from Haryana, Munugode from Telangana, Gola Gokaran Nath from Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar from Odisha. 

The two constituencies of Bihar where the bye-elections are underway are Mokama and Gopalganj. The BJP is in fierce contest with regional parties such as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the Assembly bypolls in seven constituencies spread across six states. 

In Andheri East, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction has fielded Rutuja Latke, the wife of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke whose death in May necessitated the poll. The BJP fielded Murji Patel, but he later withdrew his candidature after the party decided not to contest. This will the first election after the revolt in the Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators which led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Also Read: Munugode Bypolls: Voting Begins in The Assembly Constituency