Congress widens lead in Jubilee Hills; BJP dominates Nuapada in early bypoll trends

Early trends from bypolls across seven states on Friday pointed to tight contests, heavy security deployment and brisk counting across multiple Assembly seats. Jubilee Hills bypoll Over in Telanganas Jubilee Hills, after completion of four rounds of counting, Congress candidate Naveen Kumar Yadav is leading by 9,147 votes over BRS Maganti Sunitha. With 48.49% turnout, counting is spread across 10 rounds, while BJPs Lankala Deepak Reddy trails far behind. Nuapada bypoll In Nuapada, counting began under a three-tier security arrangement. After completion of 4 out of 26 rounds, BJP candidate Jay Dholakia has secured 18,903 votes, extending his lead to a massive 12,815 votes. Congress candidate Ghasi Ram Majhi is currently in second position with 6,088 votes, closely followed by BJDs Snehangini Chhuria, who has polled 5,320 votes so far. The high-stakes bypoll recorded an impressive 83.45% turnout, the highest among all eight seats that went to polls on November 11. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia. Nagrota bypoll In Jammus Nagrota, the BJP appeared to gain early momentum with Devyani Rana moving ahead of NCs Shamim Begum and JKNPPs Harsh Dev Singh. The seat, which recorded over 75% turnout, went to polls following the death of former MLA Devender Singh Rana, Devyanis father. Counting is underway at Government Polytechnic College under tight security. Tarn Taran bypoll In Punjabs Tarn Taran, the Shiromani Akali Dal registered an early advantage, with its nominee Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa leading AAPs Harmeet Singh Sandhu by 374 votes after three rounds. The constituency saw 60.95% polling and went to bypolls following the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal. Counting is underway at the International College of Nursing, Piddi. Ghatshila bypoll The Ghatshila contest in Jharkhand unfolded with JMMs Somesh Chandra Soren seizing a lead of 2,164 votes over JLKMs Ramdas Murmu after the first round. The tribal belt seat recorded 74.63% turnout and fell vacant after the death of JMM MLA Ramdas Soren. Twenty rounds of counting are scheduled. Anta bypoll In Rajasthans Anta, the Congress gained the upper hand early on, as its candidate Pramod Jain Bhaya moved 614 votes ahead of Independent candidate Naresh Meena after two rounds. The seat polled 80.21% and has 15 contenders, with counting planned over 20 rounds. Dampa bypoll Meanwhile in Mizorams Dampa, counting opened at 8 am with postal ballots being tallied first. The constituency, which saw a strong 83.07% turnout, is witnessing a five-way contest involving ZPM, MNF, Congress, BJP and PC candidates. Five rounds of counting are scheduled. (With inputs from PTI, Express News Service)