Adampur Assembly By-Election 2022: 22.51% Voter Turnout Till 11 AM in Haryana Bypoll

Chandigarh, November 3: A poll percentage of 22.51 was recorded in the first four hours after polling began in Haryana's Adampur Assembly segment where bypolls are underway on Thursday.

The outcome of the bypoll will decide if the Bhajan Lal family will retain the family bastion of five decades. Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Nearly 1.71 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes. Counting of votes will be taken up on November 6. Dhamnagar Assembly By-Election 2022: 10.25% Voter Turnout in First Two Hours in Odisha Bypoll.

A poll percentage of 22.51 was recorded as of 11 am, according to Election Commission of India data. Polling was going on in a smooth and peaceful manner, officials said.

Twenty-two candidates, all men, are in the fray. The main parties contesting are the BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and the Aam Aadmi Party.

A total of 180 polling booths have been set up, 36 of them have been termed "sensitive" and 39 "hypersensitive."

Tight security arrangements have been made by the district administration to conduct the polling in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, officials said. The bypoll was necessitated after former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal's younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA and switched sides from the Congress to the BJP in August. Munugodu Assembly By-Elections: Telangana BJP President Bandi Sanjay Detained After Protest Against TRS Leaders.

Bishnoi's son Bhavya, who is contesting as the BJP candidate, had also quit the Congress and joined the BJP. Bhavya, 29, had lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Hisar to BJP's bureaucrat-turned-politician Brijendra Singh.

The Congress has fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash, a three-time MP from Hisar and two-time MLA as well. The INLD has nominated Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar while the AAP has fielded Satender Singh, who switched over from the BJP.

Kuldeep Bishnoi defeated the late Sonali Phogat, who had contested on a BJP ticket, in Adampur in the Assembly elections of 2019. Adampur has been the Bhajan Lal family's citadel since 1968. Kuldeep Bishnoi, his mother Jasma Devi, son Bhavya, and wife Renuka turned up early at the polling booth to cast their votes.

"Everyone should come and cast their vote," Kuldeep Bishnoi told reporters after casting his vote. On Congress candidate Jai Prakash, the senior Bishnoi said he would make a record of losing to the third generation of Bhajan Lal's family.

"He will make a record of losing to the third generation of the Bhajan Lal family. First he lost to Chaudhary Bhajan Lal, then he lost against me (Hisar Lok Sabha polls earlier) and now he will lose to Bhavya," he claimed. On the other hand, Jai Prakash told reporters that the Congress was strong and Adampur had been a party stronghold.

On Kuldeep saying that the Bhajan Lal family was fighting this poll while being in government after a gap of 26 years, Jai Prakash said, "People will send them to permanent exile."