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4 Indian states hold by-elections

22 August 2014 02:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Indians in four states voted Thursday in by-elections held first time since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in May, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

By-elections were held in 10 assembly constituencies in the eastern state of Bihar, three each in the southern state Karnataka and central state Madhya Pradesh and two in the northwest state Punjab.

"As per information received by the Election Commission, by- elections have been peaceful and largely incident-free," Election Commission Director General Akshay Rout told media.

In Bihar, over 2.64 million people were eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 94 candidates in the 10 assembly constituencies. However, voter turnout stood at 46.42 percent, officials said.

Meanwhile, 78 percent voting was reported in Karnataka, where the main contest was between the Congress and the BJP. In Madhya Pradesh, over 70 percent balloting was recorded in by-elections in the three assembly constituencies.

The results of the election will come out next week.