Haryana by-poll: Nearly 43% turnout recorded till 1 .p.m (Lead)

Chandigarh, Oct 30 (IANS) An estimated 43 per cent of the 1.86 lakh electorate cast their ballots till 1 p.m. in the by-poll to the Ellenabad Assembly constituency of Haryana on Saturday, the Election Commission said.Voting began at 7 a.m. and will continue till 6 p.m. The counting will take place on November 2.With 19 candidates in the fray, the Ellenabad constituency in Sirsa district is witnessing a triangular contest between Abhay Singh Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Gobind Kanda of the BJP and Pawan Beniwal of the Congress.The by-poll was necessitated due to the resignation of Chautala from the seat in January in protest against the three new farm laws.After winning the by-poll in 2010, Abhay retained the seat in 2014 and 2019.The BJP's Gobind, brother of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and legislator Gopal Kanda, who joined the party recently has been fielded by the BJP-JJP combine.Beniwal, who had unsuccessfully contested the previous Assembly poll against Chautala, switched to the Congress from the BJP just ahead of the by-poll.
--IANS vg/shb/bg

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