Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], November 23 (ANI): As the counting of votes began for bypolls in 15 states, Congress candidate for Raipur South Assembly by-elections Akash Sharma expressed confidence that people have voted for a change.

Sharma said, "Since the day Congress gave me the ticket I have been saying just one thing - these elections will not decide the PM of the country or CM of the state but the MLA of Raipur South. These elections were an election of active vs dormant. In Raipur South, which has been the base of BJP, people are still devoid of basic facilities...I am confident that people have voted for change this time."

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He further said that during this election he tried his best to reach out at every houses.

The bypolls were conducted in seats spread over 15 states - Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

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Counting began this morning at 8 for the recently held Jharkhand and Maharashtra Assembly Elections, along with bypoll results from 15 states. The counting, which will decide the fate of the 288 seats in Maharashtra and 81 in Jharkhand, is expected to reveal trends in the first few hours.

The bypoll in Chhattisgarh were held in the Raipur South Assembly seat. The seat has been represented by the BJP's Brijmohan Agrawal for the last eight times.

There are a total of 30 candidates in the fray for Raipur South Assembly by-elections. Byelection for this Assembly constituency was necessitated after resignation of Brijmohan Agrawal.

The bypolls were fiercely contested across various states, including Uttar Pradesh, where nine assembly seats saw polling on Wednesday. In Wayanad, Kerala, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made her electoral debut. The bypolls were conducted in two phases.

Arrangements are also in place for counting votes for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls. (ANI)

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