The by-election to Damoh Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh witnessed 59.9% voting, about 15% less than the 2018 poll, an official said on April 18.
The ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress in the State are locked in a battle in the constituency, where the polling was held on April 17.
A total of 22 candidates contested the bypoll, but the main contest is between Rahul Lodhi of the BJP and Ajay Tandon of the Congress.
The bypoll was necessitated as Mr. Lodhi, who had won from Damoh on a Congress ticket in 2018, resigned from the Assembly as well as the party in October 2020 and joined the BJP.
He had resigned just ahead of the November 3 by- elections to over two dozen seats in the State.
District Returning Officer and Collector Tarun Rathi told PTI that 59.9% voting was recorded on April 17 in the constituency.
The surge in COVID-19 cases and hot weather might be the reasons behind the moderate turnout, he said, adding that people’s participation is generally not high in bypolls.
On April 17, the district reported 140 new cases of coronavirus, as per official data.
To a query, Mr. Rathi said no ‘corona curfew’ was imposed so far in Damoh.
Earlier, bypolls to 28 State Assembly seats were held in November last year.
As many as 25 of these seats fell vacant after their sitting Congress MLAs switched sides and joined the BJP after a revolt led by senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Mr. Tandon had earlier contested from Damoh twice unsuccessfully against senior BJP leader and former Minister Jayant Mallaiya. But now, Mr. Lodhi has replaced Mr. Mallaiya as the BJP candidate from the seat.
The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
