By-elections were held to six Assembly constituencies in five States on Saturday, including Radhakrishnan Nagar in Chennai, where Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is in the fray.

The other constituencies are Chokpot in Meghalaya, Aruvikkara in Kerala, Pratapgarh and Surma in Tripura and Garoth in Madhya Pradesh.

Voting in Radhakrishnan Nagar began amid tight security across Chennai. By evening, the turnout was about 71 per cent, say Election Commission’s figures. Twenty-eight candidates, including social activist ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy, are in the fray. However, the main contest is between Ms. Jayalalithaa and CPI candidate C. Mahendran.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of P. Vetrivel of the AIADMK in May to enable Ms. Jayalalithaa to seek re-election. Ms. Jayalalithaa must get elected to the Assembly within six months of becoming the Chief Minister. She returned to the top post on May 23 after being acquitted in a wealth case in which she was convicted last year by a trial court in Bangalore.

Mr. Ramaswamy, an Independent, alleged that he was attacked by AIADMK workers on Saturday. “I was attacked by AIADMK workers; they hounded my vehicle,” he said.

Aruvikkara in Thiruvananthapuram witnessed a three-cornered contest with voters queuing up at polling booths, braving rain. The by-poll, necessitated by the death of the former Speaker and Congress leader, G. Karthikeyan, is a crucial test for both the UDF and the LDF because the Assembly elections are only a year away.

A total of 152 polling booths were set up, and security personnel, including those from the BSF, were posted in sensitive booths.

At Chokpot in Meghalaya, over 800 additional paramilitary personnel were deployed. Of the 46 polling stations, 44 were tagged as hypersensitive and sensitive on account of militancy.

The seat fell vacant after the death of Clifford R. Marak of the Garo National Council, whose wife Kalpana Sangma is among the contestants.

Voting in Pratapgarh and Surma also took place under heavy security. Nine candidates are contesting in both constituencies.