New Delhi, July 31: Voting for the Assembly by-elections in Bankipur (Bihar), Datia (Madhya Pradesh), and Manjalpur (Gujarat) concluded peacefully on Thursday, with Datia recording a robust voter turnout while Bankipur and Manjalpur witnessed comparatively low polling.
According to official data, the Datia Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh registered the highest turnout at 71.44 per cent. In contrast, Bankipur in Patna recorded 34.39 per cent voter turnout as of 6.30 pm, marking a decline of 7.23 percentage points from the 41.35 per cent polling recorded during the 2025 Assembly election.
The Manjalpur Assembly by-election in Gujarat witnessed 34.35 per cent polling till 5 pm, according to Election Commission data.
The bypoll in Bankipur was necessitated after BJP leader Nitin Naveen was elected to the Rajya Sabha. A total of 25 candidates were in the fray for the prestigious urban constituency.
Despite the relatively low turnout, voting in Bankipur remained largely peaceful. However, minor scuffles were reported between workers of rival political parties at a few polling stations, while Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) had to be replaced at three booths after technical glitches.
District Election Officer Kundan Kumar said, “The voting was completely peaceful. Minor scuffles between political party workers were reported at some polling stations.”
Soon after polling began, the BJP lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging that Jan Suraaj was using fake voters to cast ballots in the Bankipur by-election. The allegation triggered brief confrontations between BJP and Jan Suraaj workers at some polling booths.
Meanwhile, the BJP, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jan Suraaj each expressed confidence that the low voter turnout would work in their favour.
In the previous Assembly election held in 2025, BJP candidate Nitin Naveen secured 62.66 per cent of the votes, while RJD’s Rekha Gupta polled 29.55 per cent and Jan Suraaj’s Vandana Kumari received 4.92 per cent.
The Datia by-election assumes political significance as it was necessitated following the disqualification of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti, who had defeated former Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Dr. Narottam Mishra in the 2023 Assembly elections.
Political observers believe the outcome of the Datia bypoll will have a bearing on the future role of Dr. Mishra within the BJP, with the performance of the party’s candidate Ashutosh Tiwari being closely watched.
