New Delhi, Sep 13 (Agencies): Voting for 3 Lok Sabha and 33 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 States began on a brisk note on Saturday.

In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the main contenders in 11 Assembly seats and the lone Lok Sabha seat.

The Assembly constituencies which will go to the polls on Saturday are Lucknow (East), Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha, Rohania, Nighasan, Saharanpur city, Bijnore, Thalurdwara, Noida, and Hamirpur. Mainpuri is the lone Lok Sabha constituency.

The Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency was vacated by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, a grandnephew of Mulayam Singh, while the BJP has fielded Prem Singh Shakya.

The Bahujan Samaj Party has this time decided not to contest.

West Bengal

Voting for the Chowringhee and Basirhat (South) Assembly constituencies in West Bengal began at 7 a.m. on Saturday.

Chowringhee in Kolkata was won by Trinamool’s Sikha Mitra in 2011 assembly polls, where the party fought jointly with the Congress.

The 2,00,256 electors spread across 222 polling stations have to choose from nine candidates — Trinamool’s Nayna Bandyopadhyay, BJP’s Ritesh Tiwari, Congress’ Santosh K. Pathak, CPI (M)’s Faiyaz Ahmad Khan and five independents.

The Basirhat (South) constituency is a seat newly carved out in 2011. Nearly 235,843 people are eligible to vote in 286 polling stations.

The BJP has made infiltration from across the Bangladesh border a major issue in this constituency.

After two of its leaders were put behind bars in the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scandal, the ruling Trinamool Congress has come under fire from its political rivals.

Telangana, Andhra

The Medak Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana and the Nandigama Assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh went to polls from 7 a.m. on Saturday. The polling in both the constituencies will continue till 6 p.m.

Over 15.43 lakh voters are eligible to cast their franchise in the prestigious Medak parliamentary constituency, which was once represented by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

A total of 14 candidates are in fray in Medak but it is mainly a triangular contest.

Rajasthan

Polling began on Saturday in four Rajasthan Assembly constituencies.

As many as 8.95 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes at 961 polling stations in Nasirabad, Weir, Surajgarh and Kota South.

A total of 23 candidates are in the fray, with maximum of nine candidates contesting from Surajgarh and the minimum of three from Weir.

The by-elections were necessitated as BJP legislators Sanwar Lal Jat from Nasirabad, Bahadur Singh Koli from Weir, Santosh Ahlawat from Surajgarh and Om Birla from Kota South got elected to the Lok Sabha.

The main fight is between the Congress and the ruling BJP.

Assam, Tripura

Ballotting began on Saturday for by-elections in Assam’s three Assembly constituencies — Silchar, Lakhipur and Jamunamukh, officials said.

By-election for Silchar was necessitated after Congress legislator Sushmita Dev’s election to the Lok Sabha.

The Lakhipur seat fell vacant after the death of sitting legislator and former Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala, while the Jamunamukh seat was vacated by AIUDF leader Sirajuddin Ajmal after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Barpeta.

As many as 25 candidates are in the fray — 12 are contesting in Silchar, five in Lakhipur and eight in Jamunamukh.

Over five lakh electors, including more than two lakh women, will be able to exercise ttheir democratic right at 588 polling stations.

In Tripura, by-elections for the tribal-reserved Manu Assembly constituency on Saturday morning, an official said.

Tripura Chief Electoral officer Ashutosh Jindal said 38,843 voters, including 18,929 women, are eligible to vote in 46 polling stations in 38 locations.

There are six candidates in the fray.

The by-poll was necessitated after former Forest and Rural Development Minister Jitendra Chaudhary, who won the seat five times on the CPI (M) ticket, was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Tripura East constituency.

Brisk voting in UP bypolls, stakes high for BJP, SP

Lucknow, Sep 13 (IANS): Voting began on a brisk note Saturday in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls to the 11 assembly and one parliamentary seat.

While balloting was slow owing to a drizzle in the Lucknow (East) constituency, long lines of voters were seen outside polling stations in Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha, Rohania, Nighasan, Saharanpur city, Bijnore, Thakurdwara, Noida, and Hamirpur.

Voting is being held under tight security in Mainpuri, the lone Lok Sabha constituency that went to polls Saturday.

Mainpuri with 1,647,176 voters is crucial for the Samajwadi Party (SP) as the seat has been held by the party for over two decades.

Voting in the biggest assembly segment in terms of voters in the bypolls - Noida (523,762) and the smallest Thakurdwara (329,438) - was also under way peacefully.

For the Samajwadi Party, the polls are an opportunity to make a comeback, after its disastrous showing in the Lok Sabha battle where its numbers dipped from 22 to five.

The Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency was vacated by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, a grandnephew of Mulayam Singh, while the BJP has fielded Prem Singh Shakya. The Bahujan Samaj Party has this time decided not to contest.

Election officials said adequate arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair elections.

"So far polling has been peaceful and we want more and more voters to come out and cast their votes," UP's Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha told IANS.

In all, 3,820 micro-observers have been deployed across the 5,939 polling booths of which 1,920 have been declared sensitive.

SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav voted in Mainpuri and claimed victory.

Talking to reporters, Ram Gopal Yadav said SP's candidates will win handsomely this time as the reality of "false dreams" sold by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha polls has been exposed.

"People know what the truth behind Modi's dreams was and they have made up their mind in favour of the Samajwadi Party," he added.

Barring Mainpuri which was won by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, all 11 assembly seats were held by the BJP and its ally Apna Dal.