The counting of votes has begun today, June 23, 2025, for the by-elections held in five assembly seats across four states: Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal, and Punjab. The bypolls, which took place on June 19th, are seeing intense scrutiny as they can be indicators of the political climate before major assembly elections in some of these states.
In Gujarat, by-elections were held for the Visavadar and Kadi constituencies. The Visavadar seat became vacant after the sitting AAP MLA, Bhupendra Bhayani, joined the ruling BJP. Voter turnout in Visavadar was recorded at 56.89%. The key candidates in the fray are Kirit Patel (BJP), Gopal Italia (AAP), and Nitin Ranpariya (Congress). The Kadi seat bypoll was necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Karshan Solanki and saw a voter turnout of 57.90%. Rajendra Chavda (BJP), Ramesh Chavda (Congress), and Jagdish Chavda (AAP) are the main contenders.
Kerala's Nilambur constituency recorded the highest voter turnout among the five seats, at 73.26%. The bypoll was triggered by the resignation of CPI(M)-backed Independent legislator P. V. Anvar, after a public fallout with the CPI(M). The key candidates contesting are M Swaraj (LDF), Aryadan Shoukath (UDF), and Mohan George (BJP-led NDA).
West Bengal's Kaliganj seat, which went to the polls after the death of TMC leader Nasiruddin Ahmed, recorded a voter turnout of 69.85%. The main candidates are Kabil Uddin Sheikh (Congress, backed by the Left Front), Alifa Ahmed (TMC), and Ashish Ghosh (BJP).
Punjab's Ludhiana West constituency saw a voter turnout of 51.33%. The bypoll was necessitated after the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi. Sanjeev Arora (AAP), Bharat Bhushan Ashu (Congress), Jiwan Gupta (BJP) and Parupkar Singh Ghumman (SAD) are the prominent candidates.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) implemented webcasting in almost all polling stations (1353 out of 1354) across these constituencies, ensuring transparency and smooth conduct of the elections. Initial trends are expected to emerge soon as the counting progresses.
