Polls and processes: on Assembly by-elections, the ECI

The results of the by-elections in five Assembly constituencies — Kadi (SC) and Visavadar in Gujarat, Nilambur in Kerala, Ludhiana West in Punjab and Kaliganj in West Bengal — indicate the factors at play at the local and regional levels. The Congress-led United Democratic Front candidate Aryadan Shoukath won the Nilambur seat. P.V. Anvar, who had won in 2021 as a Left-backed independent, vacated the seat after a spat with the ruling coalition, contested as a Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate (which was rejected) and then stood as an independent. The seat falls in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency represented by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate performed poorly. The outcome could impact the tone of the campaigning for the Kerala Assembly elections due next year. The alignment of communities and relative power of parties in both Fronts will be affected by the Nilambur result. In the Kaliganj constituency in Nadia district, the ruling TMC’s candidate Alifa Ahmed won by a margin of over 50,000 votes. Her father’s death had led to the by-poll. Counting day was marred by the death of a child in a crude bomb explosion, a sign of the continuing and disturbing role of violence in the State. Assembly elections in West Bengal will take place next year.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s wins in Visavadar and Ludhiana West are significant for a party that lost power in Delhi, its original stronghold, in February. Its MLA in Visavadar had defected to the BJP, and the renewed mandate helps AAP retain its stake in State politics. Its former State president Gopal Italia is the winner. AAP’s former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and industrialist Sanjeev Arora won the Ludhiana West seat in a State it rules. The BJP retained Kadi. The by-polls were also notable for the new initiatives by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reinforce the integrity of the electoral process and make it more accessible. These include mobile deposit facility for the electors at all polling stations, upgraded voter turnout sharing process resulting in faster updating of the approximate polling trends, and most significantly, webcasting at 100% of polling stations. The issues of disputes over heavy polling in sensitive booths in the concluding hours of voting and transparency related to video records of booth activities remain, and the ECI must continue to take proactive measures to not only be fair but also to be seen so.