The bypoll relsults would not upset political equations in any of the states, but will give a crucial indication of which way political winds are blowing. Will there be an anti-Red wave in Bengal and Kerala, will the Rahul Gandhi magic work in Uttar Pradesh?
These are the crucial questions that would get an answer when the results are out. A special state to watch out for is West Bengal where a Mamta storm is threatening to shake the CPM's citadel.
Here's a glimpse of Saturday's voting:
Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow: An average of 49.37 percent voting was recorded in by-elections to 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh Saturday while the turnout in Firozabad parliamentary seat was over 50 percent, officials said.
In Firozabad, where actor Raj Babbar of the Congress is pitted against Dimple Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, the total turnout was 53.5 percent.
The lowest turnout (28 percent) was recorded in the state capital's Lucknow West assembly seat, while the highest (60 percent) was recorded in Lalitpur.
The other seats where polling was held were Puwayan (Shahjahanpur), Isauli (Sultanpur), Hainsar Bazar (Sant Kabir Nagar), Padrauna (Kushinagar), Kolasala (Varanasi), Rari (Jaunpur), Etawah, Bhartana (Etawah) and Jhansi.
The by-polls followed resignations by 10 legislators and the death of another.
As many as 4.9 million voters were eligible to vote Saturday. A total 2,300 micro observers were deployed in and around 5,616 polling stations, which were monitored by some 2,200 digital and 700 video cameras.
West Bengal
Kolkata: Sixty-five per cent polling was recorded today in the byelections to 10 Assembly seats in West Bengal which passed off, by and large, peacefully.
"The final percentage of voting will be higher and known later as queues were reported in many booths beyond the end of polling at 5 pm," state's Chief Electoral Officer Debasish Sen said.
Altogether 45 companies of central paramilitary forces and 75 companies of state police personnel were deployed. Rajganj in Jalpaiguri district registered 75 per cent votes, the highest, and Alipore in Kolkata the lowest of 45 per cent, Sen said.
According to him, 12 people were arrested from West Midnapore and North 24-Parganas districts for electoral malpractices and on charges of impersonation.
The byelections are considered to be a dress rehearsal for the 2011 state Assembly elections, with the contest confined to the CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine.
