Voting for Ballia, Bikramganj, and Balagarh by-polls begin

Voting for the three Lok Sabha seats witnessing by-polls, one each in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar, is being held today.

Ballia (UP)/ Bikramganj (Bihar), Balagarh (W Bengal), Dec 29 : Voting for the three Lok Sabha seats witnessing by-polls, one each in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar, is being held today.

While the Ballia Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the demise of former prime minister Chandrashekhar, the other two by-elections in Balagarh and Bikramganj, were necessitated following the death of CPI (M) MLA Dibakanta Rout, and JD(U) MP Ajit Singh, respectively.

In Ballia, a total of over 15 lakh people are expected to decide the fate of 16 candidates. While Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded late Chandrashekhar's son Neeraj Shekhar, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Vinay Shankar Tiwari, son of former state minister Hari Shankar Tiwari.

The BJP and the Congress have given tickets to Virendra Singh Mast and Rajiv Upadhyay, respectively.

In Bikarmganj, Railway Minister and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has fielded a Kushwaha candidate and is banking on the winning combination of Kushwahas and Yadavs.

In Balagarh, the Trinamool Congress, the Congress and the BJP have fielded separate candidates who are directly locked in a fight against the ruling CPI (M) nominee Bhuban Pramanik, a leader of a fishermen's organisation.

The Trinammol, the Congress and the BJP have fielded Asim Kumar Majhi, Biswanath Malik and Bansi Rauth, respectively.

The CPI (ML) Liberation is also in the fray.

The counting of votes in all the three seats will take place on January 2.

ANI