Along with the Delhi Assembly elections, vote counting is also underway for two other bypolls – Uttar Pradesh’s Milkipur and Tamil Nadu’s Erode East.From the initial trends, BJP’s candidate Chandrabhanu Paswan is leading with over 37,863 votes, securing a total of over 73,611 votes as per Election Commission (EC) data as of 12 pm. His opponent, Samajwadi Party’s Ajit Prasad is secured a total of 35,748 votes. The Milkipur constituency is also a contest of prestige between the SP and the BJP as it a part of the politically significant Ayodhya district.The by-election in the SC-reserved seat was necessitated after SP MP Awadhesh Prasad vacated the seat winning the Faizabad seat in the Lok Sabha elections last year. In the 2022 UP assembly elections, the Milkipur sear was the only one BJP lost in the Ayodhya district.Erode East BypollIn the Erode East bypoll, the key contest is between the ruling DMK’s former MLA V C Chandhirakumar and NTK’s (Naam Tamilar Katchi) M K Seethalakshmi. The former established a formidable lead in the bypolls by securing 37,000 votes (as of 12 pm) as per EC data, leading by over 29,000votes. Seethalakshmi secured 7,681 votes.The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan. Elangovan won the seat in the 2023 bypoll by over 66,000 votes.A total of 46 candidates, including 44 independent candidates, were in the fray. However, the main opposition parties AIADMK and BJP along with others boycotted the polls leaving the main contest for the DMK and NTK.
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