Voting begins in Andheri East bypolls

Voting is under way for the byelection to the Andheri east assembly constituency in Mumbai. Rutuja Latke, the nominee of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, is expected to register a comfortable win following the withdrawal of the BJP's candidate from the fray last month. She is pitted against seven candidates, including independents.

The bypoll was necessitated due to death of Rutuja Latke's husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May this year. There are 2,71,502 registered voters in the constituency and 256 polling booths. Polling is being held from 7am to 6pm. There are a total of seven candidates in the fray. Barring Latke, all are independents, counting of votes will be held on November 6.