47% voters turn out to cast ballot in Pithoragarh bypoll

PITHORAGARH: Around 47% polling was registered (till 5 pm) for the Pithoragarh assembly bypoll that was held on Monday.
Counting will take place on November 28. Pithoragarh district magistrate and returning officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande said that polling at most of the centres was peaceful apart from the one in Deodar village where residents boycotted election demanding road connectivity in the area.
Polling began at 8am and continued till 5pm on Monday. As many as 145 polling booths were set up for the Pithoragarh assembly constituency which constitutes of 1,05,711 voters — 52,871 men and 52,840 women.
Election was necessitated in the assembly seat after it fell vacant following the death of former finance minister Prakash Pant on June 6 this year. BJP had fielded Pant’s wife Chandra Pant, following which, Congress too decided on a woman candidate — Anju Lunthi, who was a former chairperson of block development committee and presently is a member of Pithoragarh zila panchayat. Samajwadi Party’s Lalit Mohan Bhatt is the third major candidate in the fray as well.
Meanwhile, the considerably low turnout has confused poll analysts, who said that the seat can now deliver a nail-biting finish. The assembly seat had registered 64% polling in 2017, but this year, it couldn’t cross even 50% polling.
In 2017, BJP’s Prakash Pant had defeated Congress candidate Mayukh Mahar with a margin of over 2,600 votes. Political observer Prakash Pande said that low turnouts always make the fight interesting. “Although Chandra Pant has sympathy votes in her favour, Lunthi is known for her good work in the rural areas. Mahar’s support had also strengthened her position. It will be interesting to see how this fight turns out.”