Bypolls: Cong Leads in Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, BJP Ahead in UP

Puducherry: The ruling Congress in Puducherry on Thursday retained the Kamaraj Nagar Assembly seat with its nominee A John Kumar emerging victorious in the by-poll, defeating his nearest AINRC rival S Bhuvaneswarane by a margin of 7,170 votes.

While John Kumar, a confidante of Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, polled 14,782 votes out of the total 24,310 polled in the by-election held on October 21, the AINRC nominee secured 7,612 votes.

Nine contestants were in the fray while the main contest was between the ruling Congress and the opposition AINRC.

With the win, the Congress' strength in the territorial Assembly has been restored to 15 in which the Congress enjoys the support of the DMK, its alliance partner, from outside.

Cong Leads in Rajasthan

Jaipur: Ruling Congress party candidates are leading in both the Assembly constituencies in Rajasthan where bypolls were held on Monday.

Congress candidate Rita Chaudhary is leading with a margin of 7,745 votes in Mandawa against BJP's Sushila Sigra.

In Nagaur's Khinwsar constituency, Congress candidate Harendra Mirdha is leading with a margin of 144 votes. BJP-RLP alliance candidate Narayan Beniwal is trailing in this seat.

Punjab: Cong Ahead in 3 Seats; SAD in 1

Chandigarh: The Congress was leading in the three seats of Jalalabad, Phagwara and Mukerian, while the SAD was ahead in Dakha in the bypolls to four Assembly seats of Punjab, as per early trends.

Congress nominee Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal was leading over his nearest rival and BJP nominee Rajesh Bagha by a margin of 6,821 votes from Phagwara seat, according to initial trends.

From Mukerian seat, Congress candidate Indu Bala was leading by 2,684 votes against her nearest rival and BJP nominee Jangi Lal Mahajan.

From Jalalabad, Congress candidate Raminder Awla was also ahead of SAD candidate Raj Singh Dibipura by 9,071 votes.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali was leading by a comfortable margin of 6,477 votes over his nearest rival and Congress nominee Sandeep Sandhu from Dakha assembly seat, as per early trends.

Gujarat: Cong, BJP Lead in 3 Seats Each

Ahmedabad: The Congress and BJP leading in three seats each out of six Assembly bypolls in Gujarat.

In Radhanpur (Patan district), OBC leader and BJP candidate Alpesh Thakor trails behind Congress' Raghu Desai by 6,826 votes.

In Bayad (Arvalli), BJP candidate Dhavalsinh Zala trailing behind Congress' Jashu Patel by over 2,757 votes. In Amraiwadi seat of Ahmedabad, Congress' Dharmendra Patel leading over BJP's Jagdish Patel by 3,800 votes.

In Kheralu (Mehsana), BJP candidate Ajmalji Thakor leading over Congress' Babuji Thakor by over 20,000 votes.

In Tharad (Banaskantha), BJP's Jivraj Patel ahead of Congress' Gulabsinh Rajput by over 1,400 votes.

In Lunawada (Mahisagar) seats, BJP candidate Jignesh Sevak leading over Congress candidate Gulabsinh Chauhan by over 9,600 votes.

UP: BJP, Ally ahead in 7 seats, SP in 2

Lucknow: The ruling BJP is ahead in six Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and ally Apna Dal (S) in one, as per the latest trends on Thursday.

The Samajwadi Party is ahead in two, while the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party are leading in the two remaining seats.

The BJP is leading in Manikpur, Ghosi, Iglas, Lucknow Cantt, Govindnagar and Balha, while its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) is ahead in Pratapgarh.

The SP is ahead in Rampur and Zairpur, the BSP in Jalalpur and the Congress in Gangoh.

Of the 11 seats of the state where bypolls were held on Monday, eight were held by the BJP and one by its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal). Two other seats were shared by the Samajwadi Party and the BSP.

HP: Cong Loses Deposit in Dharmshala

Shimla: Congress candidate in Dharmshala, Vijay Inder Karan, on Thursday lost his security deposit in the bypoll as he failed to get even the required one-sixth of the total votes polled.

Karan could get only 8,212 votes out of the valid 5,2485 votes polled. He got 15.64% votes whereas he was required to get 16.67% (one-sixth) of total valid votes to save his deposit.

The main contest was between BJP candidate Vishal Nehria and rebel candidate Rakesh Kumar, who contested as an Independent.

Nehria defeated Kumar by a margin of 6,758 votes.

Odisha: BJD Leads Bijepur

Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal candidate Rita Sahu has established a lead of 75,247 votes over her nearest rival Sanat Gartia of the BJP in the by-poll to Odisha's Bijepur Assembly constituency.

Sahu has secured 1,03,318 votes while Gartia has garnered 28,071 votes.

Congress candidate Dilip Kumar Panda was trailing at the third position with 4,287 votes, an election official said.