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About 68 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in the assembly bypoll in Medak constituency in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, while 60 per cent polling was recorded in Nayagarh and Howarh (south) assembly constituencies in Orissa and West Bengal respectively.
The Medak bypoll was necessitated following the demise of then higher education minister Karanam Ramachandra Rao on May 13.
The returning officer said the turnout was heavy in Medak town as well as in rural areas under the constituency. Even in Naxalite-affected villages large number of people cast their votes. The constituency has an electorate of 170,857.
Electronic voting machines were used in the bypoll. The counting of votes will take place on July 4.
The bypoll witnessed a four-cornered contest. Ruling Telugu Desam Party fielded the late minister's wife Karanam Uma Devi, while the Congress candidate Patlolla Shashidhar Reddy is the son of a former legislator.
Two other candidates in the fray are Koppula Pochaiah of Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Sheggari Madhusudhan Goud of Bahujan Samaj Party.
The Howarh assembly bypoll was caused by the death of Badal Basu of CPI-M.
The constituency witnesses a four-cornered contest with CPI-M's Krishna Kishore Roy, Congress' Srikanta Ghosh, Trinamool Congress' Brajamohan Majumdar and Dinesh Gupta of Janata Dal in the fray.
The Nayagarh bypoll was caused by the death of senior Biju Janata Dal leader and School and Mass Education Minister Bhagabat Behera.
Behera's widow, Mandakini Behera, is locked in a straight contest with Sitakanta Mishra of Congress.
Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad and agencies
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