Manjalpur bypoll sees 37.5% turnout, counting of votes on August 3

Manjalpur voted in a peaceful by-election on Thursday after Yogesh Patel's death. The 37.5 per cent turnout sharpens focus on a closely watched August 3 count.Manjalpur bypoll 2026 (Representational image)A turnout of 37.5 per cent was recorded on Thursday in the by-election to the Manjalpur Assembly constituency in Gujarat's Vadodara district, officials said. Polling was held peacefully from 7 am to 6 pm and no untoward incident was reported, according to a release issued by the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer.The final turnout figure is expected to rise slightly after all reports are compiled, the release said. The constituency had recorded 60.15 per cent polling in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections. Counting of votes will take place on August 3. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of senior BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Yogesh Patel on June 2 after a prolonged illness.The election saw a direct contest between the ruling BJP's Satish Govindbhai Patel, a former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor, and Gujarat Congress vice president and former minister Bhikhabhai Rabari.A total of 2.19 lakh voters, including 1,11,645 men, 1,07,847 women and two third-gender voters, were eligible to cast their votes. Polling was conducted at 260 polling stations. The Election Commission put in place several voter-friendly measures, including 100 per cent webcasting at all polling stations, mobile deposit facilities for electronic gadgets, real-time poll monitoring and adherence to the prescribed voter limit at polling stations. Yogesh Patel, an eight-time BJP legislator, represented the Raopura Assembly constituency in Vadodara five times between 1990 and 2007 before moving to the newly created Manjalpur seat after delimitation. He won the Manjalpur seat in 2012, 2017 and 2022, completing eight consecutive victories in the Gujarat Assembly over 36 years. The by-election to the seat on Thursday recorded 37.5 per cent polling, with counting scheduled for August 3.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 30, 2026 21:32 IST