Bageshwar assembly byelection witnesses 55.4% voter turnout

BAGESHWAR: The byelection for the Bageshwar assembly seat that was held on Tuesday witnessed a 55.42% voter turnout. Five candidates are in the fray for the seat, which fell vacant after the death of former cabinet minister Chandan Ram Das on April 26.
The fate of BJP's Parvati Das, Congress's Basant Kumar, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal's Arjun Dev, Samajwadi Party's Bhagwati Prasad Trikoti and Uttarakhand Parivartan Party's Bhagwat Kohli will be known on September 8, when the voting will take place.
While the voting was peaceful, there were reported issues with voting machines at two locations, booth numbers 181 and 182, which were subsequently resolved. Incidentally, during the assembly election held last year, the voter turnout was 60.78% while there were eight candidates in the fray. Despite the lesser turnaround as compared to the assembly election, there seems to be enthusiasm among the elderly as well as first-time voters and women, who walked long distances to cast their votes.
Voters at the Dangoli booth ensured that 95-year-old Birma Devi could exercise her franchise by providing her with a chair at the polling station. First-time voters, particularly youth, exhibited great enthusiasm for participating in the electoral process. Among key figures in the constituency, DM Anuradha Pal cast her vote at the Government Girls Inter College.