Results of bypolls in 4 states to be declared today; can the Lalu-Nitish alliance dent BJP in Bihar?

New Delhi: The results for assembly bypolls held in four states - Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka will be declared on Monday. Counting will begin at 8 am on Monday morning.

These are the first assembly bypolls after the political realignment in Bihar. Ten assembly seats went to polls in the state after Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal United's Nitish Kumar stitched up an alliance to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Six out of the 10 seats were won by the BJP in the 2010 Assembly election. The bypolls to the 10 assembly constituencies - Hajipur, Chapra, Mohiuddinagar, Parbatta, Bhagalpur, Rajnagar (SC), Jale, Mohania (SC), Narkatiaganj, Banka - on August 21 were necessitated after representatives to five of them got elected to the Lok Sabha, while the rest fell vacant due to resignations. The voters turnout was around 47 per cent during the bypoll.

A three-tier security arrangement has been put in place at all counting centres and around 3,000 Central Para Military Force personnel have been deployed in Bihar.

In Punjab, stakes are high for the royal family of Patiala and the ruling Akalis as the results of the bypolls to Patiala and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats are to be declared. The results will have a bearing on the political fortunes of former Union minister and wife of Congress MP Amarinder Singh, Preneet Kaur, and the ruling Akalis who are facing anti-incumbency.

The bypolls to Patiala, necessitated after Amarinder got elected to the Lok Sabha from Amritsar seat, witnessed a triangular contest between Preneet Kaur, Bhagwan Das of SAD and Harjeet Singh of AAP. Preneet Kaur had lost the Lok Sabha polls to AAP's Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala.

The bypolls to Talwandi Sabo, necessitated after sitting MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu quit Congress to join SAD, too witnessed a triangular contest between Congress's Harminder Singh Jassi, SAD's Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and AAP's Baljinder Kaur, while Balkar Singh, who was initially declared as AAP candidate, contested as Independent.

Counting of votes for the August 21 bypoll to three Assembly seats from Karnataka will also be held on Monday with the outcome being a test of popularity and prestige for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and BJP Vice-President BS Yeddyurappa. Both the ruling Congress and BJP fought a hard battle in the first measure of popularity after the Lok Sabha polls in the constituencies of Chikodi-Sadalaga, Bellary Rural and Shikaripura.

The ruling BJP and Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh are also eagerly waiting for the results to be declared of the by-elections to three assembly seats held last week. The counting of votes will take place today at Katni district headquarters for Bahoriband and Vijayraghavgarh seats and at Agar Malwa for Agar constituency.

(With additional information from PTI)