Bypolls: Voting begins in 5 Assembly seats

New Delhi, Dec 21: Voting began on Thursday morning in five Assembly constituencies, spread over four states, with the spotlight on RK Nagar down South. 

The five seats are RK Nagar in Tamil Nadu, Sikandra in Uttar Pradesh, Sabang in West Bengal and Pakke Kasang and Likabali in Arunachal Pradesh.
December 24 is set for the counting of votes.
For the high-profile R K Nagar seat, an estimated 2.19 lakh voters, including 1.12 lakh women, are expected to exercise their franchise. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of former TN Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who represented the constituency twice in 2015 and 2016, before her untimely demise on December 5, last year. Though there were 59 candidates in the fray, including a woman, the main contest would be between AIADMK heavyweight and former Minister E Madhusudhanan, who was earlier elected in 1991, political greenhorn N Maruthu Ganesh of the main Opposition DMK, ousted leader and V K Sasikala's nephew T T V Dhinakaran, contesting as an Independent, and K Nagaraj of BJP.
On the poll eve, the Dhinakaran camp released a video clipping showing Jayalalithaa in hospital bed. But the Election Commission prohibited all TV channels from telecasting it as there might have been an direct or indirect impact on the elections.
Elaborate security is in place for Thursday’s crucial Sikandra assembly byelection in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district.
The vacancy arose due to the death of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Mathura Prasad Pal. BJP has fielded Mathura Prasad Pal's son Ajit from the seat. He is pitted against Samajwadi Party's Seema Sachan, who is being supported by smaller parties such as NISHAD Party and Peace Party. Seema Sachan is the wife of former SP MP Rakesh Sachan. Congress has fielded Prabhakar Pandey, who had contested the last assembly polls on NISHAD Party ticket.
Bypolls would also be held for two constituencies of Pakke-Kessang in East Kameng district and Likabali in Lower Siang district.
The Pakke-Kessang seat fell vacant after the Gauhati High Court declared null and void the March 2014 election of former deputy chief minister Kameng Dolo following an election petition filed against him by BJP nominee and former minister Atum Welly. The Likabali seat fell vacant after Health and Family Welfare Minister Jomde Kena died on September 4 this year.
Sabang by-election would be a litmus test for both the ruling Trinamool Congress as well as the BJP, which has been trying to emerge as the principal opposition outfit in the state. The bypoll was necessitated after former Congress MLA Manas Ranjan Bhunia was elected to Rajya Sabha on a TMC ticket.
Trinamool Congress has fielded Gita Rani Bhunia, wife of Mr Manas Ranjan Bhunia. The BJP candidate is Antara Bhattacharya, who was with Communist Party of India (Marxist) and served from 2008 to 2013 as the sabhadhipati of West Midnapore Zilla Parishad. UNI