Polling has begun for the by-elections to three Lok Sabha and 33 Assembly seats spread over 9 States. The voting, which started at 7 AM, will end at 6 PM. The three Parliamentary constituencies where voting is taking place are Vadodara in Gujarat, Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and Medak in Telangana. By-polls at these seats were necessitated after Prime Minister Narendra Modi quit Vadodara Lok Sabha seat to retain Varanasi.

While Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav resigned from Mainpuri, K Chandrashekhara Rao vacated Medak after becoming the Chief Minister of Telangana.

Out of 33 Assembly seats, 11 are in Uttar Pradesh, 9 in Gujarat, 4 in Rajasthan, 3 in Assam, 2 in West Bengal and one each in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tripura and Sikkim.

Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polling. Paramilitary forces have been deployed at all sensitive booths.