Mizoram’s Dampa leads early voter turnout as eight assembly seats go to polls

Guwahati: Mizoram’s Dampa constituency recorded the highest early turnout in Tuesday’s by-elections, with 18.38% of over 20,000 voters casting their ballots by 9 am.

Election officials reported that polling began at 7 am across all 41 polling stations in the border district of Mamit, which shares boundaries with Bangladesh and Tripura.

Voters across eight Assembly constituencies in six States and one Union Territory turned out to elect new representatives.

Following Dampa, Ghatsila in Jharkhand recorded a 17.33% turnout, while Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir logged 15.11%. Budgam in J&K saw a slower response, with just 9.36% of voters participating.

Other early turnout figures included Nuapada in Odisha at 14.99%, Anta in Rajasthan at 14.09%, Tarn Taran in Punjab at 10.32%, and Jubilee Hills in Telangana at 10.02%.

The by-elections were necessitated due to a variety of reasons:

• Budgam, J&K – vacated by Omar Abdullah, who retained the Ganderbal seat after winning both in 2024.
• Nagrota, J&K – fell vacant following the death of BJP legislator Devender Singh Rana.
• Anta, Rajasthan – BJP’s Kanwar Lal Meena was disqualified after a 2005 conviction.
• Ghatsila, Jharkhand – JMM MLA Ramdas Soren passed away in August after treatment in Delhi.
• Jubilee Hills, Telangana – BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath’s death prompted the bypoll.
• Tarn Taran, Punjab – seat vacated after AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal’s demise in June.
• Nuapada, Odisha – BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia’s passing created the vacancy.

Officials have deployed security and polling staff to ensure a smooth voting process, and early reports suggest a steady turnout across most constituencies.