Litmus test for INDIA as bypolls begin in 6 states
What's the story
The voting for the bypolls to fill seven vacant assembly seats in six states began on Tuesday morning.
The constituencies where polling is underway are Uttar Pradesh's Ghosi, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Kerala's Puthuppally, Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Jharkhand's Dumri, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura.
The votes for all these seats will be counted on Friday.
Context
Why does this story matter?
These are the first polls since the formation of the opposition alliance, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), and are being viewed as a litmus test for the bloc, which hopes to fight unitedly.
The results will show if the INDIA can put up a fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), thus setting the stage for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Details
Congress backs SP candidate in Ghosi
The deaths of sitting MLAs of Dhupguri, Puthuppally, Bageshwar, Dumri, and Boxanagar seats necessitated the byelections.
Ghosi's sitting MLA, Dara Singh Chauhan—elected on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket—resigned to join the BJP, while in Dhanpur, BJP's Pratima Bhoumik resigned to keep her Lok Sabha seat.
The Congress has fielded the late Oommen Chandy's son, Chandy Oommen, in Puthuppally against CPM's Jaick C Thomas.
Candidates
BJP vs CPM in Dhanpur, Boxanagar
Chauhan is now contesting in Ghosi as a BJP candidate against SP's Sudhakar Singh, backed by the Congress.
Meanwhile, the BJP fielded Bhoumik's brother, Bindu Debnath, in Dhanpur against Kaushik Chanda of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), also fighting the BJP in Boxanagar.
The BJP fielded former MLA Chandan Ram Dass's wife, Parvati, against Congress's Basant Kumar and SP's Bhagawati Prasad in Bageshwar.
Others
INDIA backs JMM candidate in Dumri
In Dumri, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) fielded former sitting MLA Jagarnath Mahto's wife, Bebi Devi, supported by the INDIA, against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s Yashoda Devi. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)'s Abdul Rizvi is also in the fray.
The BJP fielded Tapasi Roy in Dhupguri against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s Nirmal Chandra Roy and CPM's Ishwar Chandra Roy.