LIVE: Big test for BJP as Opposition targets critical Lok Sabha and Assembly bypolls. Full details and updates here

Update at 4:19 pm - 

Update at 4:15 pm - 68% voter turnout in Nagaland Lok Sabha constituency bypoll till 3 pm

Update at 3:50 pm - Polling percentage for Lok Sabha seat in U.P's Kairana is 41.3% at 3 pm, while for Noorpur assembly constituency, it is 45%

In RR Nagar assembly seat in Karnataka, polling percentage is 41% at 3 pm.

Update at 3:42 pm - Samajwadi Party writes to Election Commission of India on EVMs

 Update at 3:31 pm - 82.62% polling recorded at Meghalaya's Ampati by 3 pm

Update at 3:13 pm - 61.85% polling in Maheshtala, West Bengal at 3 pm.

Update at 2:36 pm - ECI on EVM tampering:

Update at 2:20 pm - 

Update at 2:11 pm - NCP's Praful Patel addresses media on EVM: 'EC officials are hassled. 30% of the machines are faulty. They are saying sensors are faulty and that machines have heated up. If machines can't work in the summer we have to reconsider their use. Heavens won't fall if the result that takes two hours takes 10 hours to come. Repoll should happen. EC themselves have announced it in some booths. Counting of votes should be stopped in all bypolls till repolling is done in these booths'

Update at 2:09 pm - 154 EVMs have developed technical snags, states Palghar's collector. Voting percentage till 1 pm stands at 19.25%

Update at 1:57 pm - In Kairana, at booth number 173, stone pelting was allegedly observed amid clashes between police and BJP supporters. Locals alleged that police shot at them and many got injured. Heavy police force has been deployed at the spot.

Update at 1:44 pm - The Polling percentage at 1 pm for Kairana Lok Sabha seat is 30.61% and for Noorpur assembly seat, it is 33%.

Update at 1:43 pm - 47.70% polling in Chengannur in Kerala at 1 p.m.

Update at 1:40 pm - Samajwadi Party’s General Secretary Ramgopal Yadav & RLD Chief Ajit Singh to meet CEC over reports of EVMs malfunctioning in Kairana/Noorpur Elections at 3:30 pm today

Update at 1:37 pm - 

Bhandara-Gondia election officer claims that initially, there were some EVMs which were not working but they have been replaced. Now, EVMs are working properly at all the booths, he adds.

All the allegations of  tampering are false, he added

Update at 1:28 pm - 

Press Release from Office of Chief Electoral Officer - 

There have been certain cases of failure due to technical problems of EVMs and VVPATS during Polling in 22- Palghar and 11 - Bhandara - Gondiya Parliamentary constituencies which have been replaced.

These issues come up because of technical engineering problems and therefore, we keep reserve machines for replacement. Machines are replaced as and when required following a protocol.

Polling is going on peacefully on both the constituencies.

Update at 1:09 pm - Prakash Ambedkar demands to take re-election in Bhandara - Gondia seat where his party is contesting, alleging that more than 450 EVMs are not working. He's accusing BJP of intentionally stopping EVMs at the polling centre. 

Update at 1:07 pm - 'Technical problems in EVMs & VVPATs clearly indicate failure of EC. If this is the situation in by-polls, think about coming Lok Sabha Elections. We've said it again and again and other parties have also agreed that elections should be conducted using ballot papers, says Anil Desai, Shiv Sena

Update at 12:46 pm - Voting suspended at 35 polling booths in Bhandara–Gondiya Lok Sabha bypolls due to faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVM): Abhimanyu Kale, District Magistrate

Update at 12:17 pm - In Noorpur assembly bypoll, Yashwir Singh, a former MP from Samajwadi Party, has been arrested for allegedly taking voters to the polling booth in his own vehicle

Update at 12:09 pm - 21.34% voter turnout at Kairana till 11 am

Update at 11:34 am - 

Update at 11:17 am - 44% polling percentage recorded in Nagaland till 11 am

Update at 11:16 am - RLD lodges official complaint regarding 150 EVMs to Election Commission

Update at 10:44 am - Reports that in Noorpur, U.P, 140 EVMs are malfunctioning as they're tampered. There are similar reports from Kairana. The BJP wants to avenge its defeat in Phulpur and Gorakhpur which is why they want to defeat us at any cost: Rajendra Chaudhary, SP

Update at 10:28 am - Samajwadi Party complains of large number of EVMs malfunctioning to Election Commission

Update at 10:08 am - 

Update at 9:59 am - 23% polling recorded in Nagaland till 9 am 

Update at 9:57 am - 

Update at 9:54 am - Eleven faulty EVMs reported across polling booths in Gondiya & Bhandara Lok Sabha constituencies

Update at 9:48 am - 11% polling percentage at 9 am in Karnataka's RRNagar 

Update at 9:36 am - Polling starts in all 178 booths of Tharali, Uttarakhand

Update at 9:35 am - The polling percentage at 9 am for Kairana is 10.2%. For Nagaland Lok Sabha bypoll, polling percentage is 23% till 9 am.

Update at 9:20 am - In some tribal areas of Palghar, EVM machines were not working so the duty officer has replaced them

Update at 8:02 am - EVMs in multiple booths in Uttar Pradesh's Kairana not working

Update at 7:00 am - Voting begins in four Lok Sabha and 11 Assembly constituencies

Watch here for the quickest updates on the 14 bypolls and deferred election in Karnataka's Rajarajeshwari Nagar that is taking place today

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Less than two weeks since the Karnataka election results were announced following which the Opposition made a massive show of strength, voting began on Monday for bypolls to four Lok Sabha seats, including politically-crucial Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, Palghar in Maharashtra, and a total of 11 assembly constituencies spread across 10 states.

Besides Kairana in western Uttar Pradesh and Palghar, by-elections are also being held in Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra, and in Nagaland's sole Lok Sabha seat.

Kairana in U.P:

In an expansion of what was witnessed in Gorakhpur and Phulpur a few months ago, the Kairana bypoll too will see a joint opposition taking on the ruling BJP. 

The constituency fell vacant after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh, whose daughter Mriganka Singh is now the party's candidate for the bypoll. She is fighting Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD) Tabassum Hasan, who is supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The opposition is hoping to consolidate anti-BJP votes to have a repeat of the events that saw U.P Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya lose the seats they had held before the BJP came to power in the state. However, the BJP is making extra efforts to retain the seat to try and send a strong message to voters, party cadres as well as the opposition parties that it is still strong in western UP.

Palghar, Bhandara-Gondia in Maharashtra:

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, all four major parties -- the Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena and the NCP -- have pulled out all stops for the Lok Sabha bypolls as the outcome is likely to have a bearing on their future course. The Shiv Sena has fielded the son of BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga whose death led to the bypoll, Shriniwas Wanaga, in Palghar, much to the dislike of the BJP which has in-turn nominated former Congress leader Rajendra Gavit.

In Bhandara-Gondia, Nana Patole quit as the BJP MP and resigned from the ruling party to return to the Congress earlier this year, necessitating the by-election.

The BJP is confident of retaining the two seats while the opposition feels setbacks to the ruling party in the bypoll would boost the vigour of the 'anti-BJP camp' and lead to new alignments in state politics.

The ruling party has locked horns with the NCP for retaining the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat while in Palghar, it is in a direct fight with the ally Shiv Sena even though the contest is multi-cornered.

Nagaland:

In Nagaland's capital Kohima, Chief Electoral Officer Abhijit Sinha said that all arrangements had been made for the peaceful conduct of the bypoll to the lone Lok Sabha seat in the northeastern state. The by-poll is a straight contest between ruling Peoples Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate Tokheho Yepthomi and opposition NPF nominee C Apok Jamir. The Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of Neiphiu Rio from the Lok Sabha to contest the Nagaland Assembly election in February. Rio is presently the Chief Minister of the state. 

Assembly polls:

Assembly bypolls, meanwhile, are taking place in Maharashtra (Palus Kadegaon constituency), Uttar Pradesh (Noorpur), Bihar (Jokihat), Jharkhand (Gomia and Silli), Kerala (Chengannur), Meghalaya (Ampati), Punjab (Shahkot),  Uttarakhand (Tharali) and West Bengal (Maheshtala). Meanwhile, the election in Karnataka's Rajarajeshwari Nagar, which was deferred as the sitting Congress MLA was named in two FIRs with attempt to bribe allegations, is also being held.

The counting of votes will take place on Thursday, May 31.