News Analysis India

Tag: bypolls

  • TMC, BJP, Left-Cong to fight it out in Bengal’s Sagardighi by-poll

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The stage is set for a three-cornered contest in the by-poll to the Sagardighi assembly constituency in Murshidabad district on Monday, as the ruling TMC, opposition BJP and the Congress-Left alliance are ready for the fight to bag the minority-dominated seat.

    The TMC, which has been winning the seat since 2011, won in 2021 by a margin of nearly 50,000 votes, securing more than 50 per cent of the total votes polled, whereas the BJP and the Congress-Left alliance had bagged 24 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.

    The TMC has fielded local leader Debashish Banerjee, who is up against Dilip Saha of the BJP, and the Left-supported Congress candidate Bayron Biswas who is known as the beedi-baron in the area.

    The constituency is known for its beedi industry and is also a cradle of migrant labourers, who venture out to various parts of the country in search of jobs.

    Apart from more than 60 per cent minority population, the rural seat also has around 18.5 per cent Scheduled caste and 6.5 per cent Scheduled Tribe population.

    It has approximately 2.3 lakh voters.

    The by-poll to the Sagardighi assembly seat was necessitated by the death of its three-time TMC MLA and state minister Subrata Saha in December last year.

    The TMC, confident of winning the seat for the fourth consecutive time, has employed party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and a host of other top leaders and ministers to campaign in the area.

    “In the by-poll, we must improve our margin further and expose the unholy opposition nexus of BJP, CPI (M) and Congress. I wish to tell everyone here that a vote for the Congress will strengthen the hand of the BJP and its designs to implement NRC in future,” Banerjee had said during a recent election campaign.

    His reference to NRC was a reminder of the violent protest the district had witnessed in December 2019 against the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Parliament.

    The recent IT raids on TMC MLA Jakir Hossain from the district have left the ruling party fuming, accusing it of using central agencies to threaten the party leaders ahead of the by-polls.

    The BJP’s big guns — Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, and state president Sukanta Majumdar – have carried out a whirlwind campaign in the constituency. “If the elections are free and fair, the BJP will win the seat by a record margin. The Sagardighi assembly by-poll will kick off the downfall of the TMC in future,” Adhikari had said.

    Congress state president and an MP from the district, Adhir Chowdhury, who is crisscrossing the entire constituency, is confident that of winning the seat. “The minorities have realised that the TMC and the BJP are both sides of the same coin. The death of student leader Anish Khan and recent graft cases where deserving candidates have been denied jobs as the posts were sold will have an impact on this by-poll,” he said.

    The seat was considered a Congress bastion since the early 1950s till the then-ruling CPI (M) snatched it from the grand old party in the assembly election of 1987.

    Riding on the winds of change, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) snatched it from the Left in 2011.

    The Election Commission, in a bid to ensure free and fair polls, has deployed 30 companies of central forces in the area.

    KOLKATA: The stage is set for a three-cornered contest in the by-poll to the Sagardighi assembly constituency in Murshidabad district on Monday, as the ruling TMC, opposition BJP and the Congress-Left alliance are ready for the fight to bag the minority-dominated seat.

    The TMC, which has been winning the seat since 2011, won in 2021 by a margin of nearly 50,000 votes, securing more than 50 per cent of the total votes polled, whereas the BJP and the Congress-Left alliance had bagged 24 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.

    The TMC has fielded local leader Debashish Banerjee, who is up against Dilip Saha of the BJP, and the Left-supported Congress candidate Bayron Biswas who is known as the beedi-baron in the area.

    The constituency is known for its beedi industry and is also a cradle of migrant labourers, who venture out to various parts of the country in search of jobs.

    Apart from more than 60 per cent minority population, the rural seat also has around 18.5 per cent Scheduled caste and 6.5 per cent Scheduled Tribe population.

    It has approximately 2.3 lakh voters.

    The by-poll to the Sagardighi assembly seat was necessitated by the death of its three-time TMC MLA and state minister Subrata Saha in December last year.

    The TMC, confident of winning the seat for the fourth consecutive time, has employed party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and a host of other top leaders and ministers to campaign in the area.

    “In the by-poll, we must improve our margin further and expose the unholy opposition nexus of BJP, CPI (M) and Congress. I wish to tell everyone here that a vote for the Congress will strengthen the hand of the BJP and its designs to implement NRC in future,” Banerjee had said during a recent election campaign.

    His reference to NRC was a reminder of the violent protest the district had witnessed in December 2019 against the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Parliament.

    The recent IT raids on TMC MLA Jakir Hossain from the district have left the ruling party fuming, accusing it of using central agencies to threaten the party leaders ahead of the by-polls.

    The BJP’s big guns — Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, and state president Sukanta Majumdar – have carried out a whirlwind campaign in the constituency. “If the elections are free and fair, the BJP will win the seat by a record margin. The Sagardighi assembly by-poll will kick off the downfall of the TMC in future,” Adhikari had said.

    Congress state president and an MP from the district, Adhir Chowdhury, who is crisscrossing the entire constituency, is confident that of winning the seat. “The minorities have realised that the TMC and the BJP are both sides of the same coin. The death of student leader Anish Khan and recent graft cases where deserving candidates have been denied jobs as the posts were sold will have an impact on this by-poll,” he said.

    The seat was considered a Congress bastion since the early 1950s till the then-ruling CPI (M) snatched it from the grand old party in the assembly election of 1987.

    Riding on the winds of change, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) snatched it from the Left in 2011.

    The Election Commission, in a bid to ensure free and fair polls, has deployed 30 companies of central forces in the area.

  • Samajwadi Party legislators hold dharna against govt in UP assembly premises

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Alleging misuse of official machinery during bypolls, price rise and poor law and order in the state, Samajwadi Party legislators on Monday sat on a dharna in the Uttar Pradesh assembly premises.

    Before the start of the Winter Session, the SP MLAs sat near the Chowdhury Charan Singh statue with placards that read, “Janta ka paisa ghate hain, ghaplebaaj sarkaar chalate hain” (They swindle people’s money, scamsters run the government) and “BJP vifal hai apne kaamo se, janta trast hai badhte daamo se” (The BJP has failed in its works and people are fed up with inflation).

    SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowhdury said, “Our legislators sat on a dharna to point out misuse of official machinery by the BJP in bypolls. They were preventing people from casting votes.”

    “In the BJP regime, price rise is at its peak, youth are not getting employment and law and order has broken down in the state. The BJP has failed on all fronts. We are here to point out the government’s failures,” he said.

    Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-polls | I don’t know on whose orders the administration is working from the day polling started. What briefing has been given to him? Complaints are coming continuously since morning. Police is not allowing people to cast votes: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav pic.twitter.com/jhfcVQ68HM
    — ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2022
    The Winter Session of the Uttar Pradesh assembly commenced on Monday in which a supplementary budget is to be tabled.

    LUCKNOW: Alleging misuse of official machinery during bypolls, price rise and poor law and order in the state, Samajwadi Party legislators on Monday sat on a dharna in the Uttar Pradesh assembly premises.

    Before the start of the Winter Session, the SP MLAs sat near the Chowdhury Charan Singh statue with placards that read, “Janta ka paisa ghate hain, ghaplebaaj sarkaar chalate hain” (They swindle people’s money, scamsters run the government) and “BJP vifal hai apne kaamo se, janta trast hai badhte daamo se” (The BJP has failed in its works and people are fed up with inflation).

    SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowhdury said, “Our legislators sat on a dharna to point out misuse of official machinery by the BJP in bypolls. They were preventing people from casting votes.”

    “In the BJP regime, price rise is at its peak, youth are not getting employment and law and order has broken down in the state. The BJP has failed on all fronts. We are here to point out the government’s failures,” he said.

    Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-polls | I don’t know on whose orders the administration is working from the day polling started. What briefing has been given to him? Complaints are coming continuously since morning. Police is not allowing people to cast votes: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav pic.twitter.com/jhfcVQ68HM
    — ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2022
    The Winter Session of the Uttar Pradesh assembly commenced on Monday in which a supplementary budget is to be tabled.

  • Uttar Pradesh gears up for bypolls in Mainpuri, Khatauli, Rampur: All you need to know

    The outcomes of the bypolls will not have any impact on the central or the state governments as the BJP enjoys a comfortable majority at both levels.

  • Bypolls: Counting of votes underway in 3 Lok Sabha, 7 assembly seats

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Counting of votes is underway on Sunday in three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi where bypolls were held on June 23.

    Counting began at 8 am under multi-tier security cover. At first, postal ballots will be counted and then EVMs opened. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha is among the key candidates whose fate will be decided. Tripura has the highest number of four seats — Agartala, Jubarajnagar, Surma and Town Bardowali.

    Saha, who is contesting from Town Bardowali, needs to win this election to continue as chief minister. He is a Rajya Sabha member who was sworn in last month after the then chief minister Biplab Deb’s sudden resignation.

    Polling in Tripura on Thursday was the highest at 76.62 per cent. Lok Sabha bypolls were held in Rampur and Azamgarh constituencies in Uttar Pradesh and Sangrur seat in Punjab.

    The other constituencies where assembly bypolls were held were Rajinder Nagar in Delhi, Mandar in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district and Atmakuru in Andhra Pradesh.

    The bypolls in Uttar Pradesh were necessitated by resignations of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and party leader Azam Khan from Azamgarh and Rampur seats, respectively.

    Both leaders quit as Lok Sabha members following their election to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly in the elections held earlier this year. In Rampur, the BJP fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who recently joined the party. Asim Raja, handpicked by Azam Khan is the SP candidate. The Mayawati-led BSP is not contesting from Rampur.

    The Azamgarh seat saw a triangular contest among BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’, a Bhojpuri actor-singer, SP’s Dharmendra Yadav and BSP’s Shah Alam, also known as Guddu Jamali.

    In Sangrur, the bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from the Lok Sabha after he was elected as an MLA in the state assembly elections earlier this year.

    Mann had won the Sangrur seat in the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab is facing its first test of popularity after its impressive performance in the assembly polls.

    The bypolls were held at a time when the AAP is facing opposition heat over the law-and-order scenario in the state and the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala.

    The AAP has fielded Gurmail Singh, the party’s Sangrur district in-charge; the main opposition Congress former Dhuri MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy, while the BJP candidate is former Barnala MLA Kewal Dhillon, who had joined the party on June 4.

    Kamaldeep Kaur, sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassination case, was fielded by the SAD. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann is also in the fray.

    The by-election in Jharkhand was necessitated after the disqualification of Bandhu Tirkey as an MLA in the wake of his conviction in a corruption case. A special CBI court in Jharkhand had on March 28 sentenced Tirkey to three years imprisonment.

    The Congress has fielded his daughter, Shilpi Neha Tirkey, as the common candidate of the ruling JMM-led coalition, while the BJP has nominated former legislator Gangotri Kujur in the seat.

    The Congress and the RJD are the two other constituents of the ruling alliance in Jharkhand. Independent candidate Dev Kumar Dhan, backed by Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), is also in the fray.

    In Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar, AAP’s Durgesh Pathak is likely to have a close contest with BJP’s Rajesh Bhatia, who had also been a councillor from the area.

    The Congress’ nominee is Prem Lata. The bypoll was necessitated in the wake of AAP leader Raghav Chadha leaving the seat after being elected to the Rajya Sabha recently.

    “We have made all the arrangements for the exercise. The strong room is fully secured with a three-tier security cover. The counting centre has been set up at ITI Pusa. Postal ballots will be counted first, and only those ballots which have been received from service voters till 8 am on June 26 will be considered for counting. After that the EVM votes shall be counted,” a senior official had said here on Saturday.

    The by-election in Andhra Pradesh is being held to fill the vacancy caused due to the death of Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy in February.

    His younger brother Vikram Reddy is the ruling YSR Congress candidate and he is locked in a contest with BJP’s G Bharat Kumar Yadav.

  • Voting begins for Rajinder Nagar bypoll in Delhi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Voting began Thursday morning for the bypoll to Rajinder Nagar in Delhi, largely being seen as a battle between a confident AAP and a spirited BJP for the crucial assembly constituency.

    A total of 1,64,698 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election, in which 14 candidates are in the fray, with water shortage and the city government’s liquor policy among the key election issues.

    The two major contenders — the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that their candidates will emerge victorious in the bypoll with a huge margin. Polling began at 7 am amid tight security arrangements and is scheduled to be held till 6 pm.

    “Mock polls were held at all polling stations, and voting has begun under tight security arrangements for the Rajinder Nagar bypoll. Actor Sonam Kapoor has released a video message to appeal to voters to exercise their franchise,” Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh told PTI.

    To raise awareness, Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor has been chosen as an icon, and her images have been used on posters and social media to reach out to greater number of voters, especially the youth.

    Six companies of CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) personnel have been deployed for security arrangements during the bypoll necessitated in the wake of AAP leader Raghav Chadha leaving the seat after being elected to the Rajya Sabha recently.

    ALSO READ | Rajinder Nagar goes to vote today, 14 candidates in fray

    Chadha was the MLA from the Rajinder Nagar Assembly seat. The Counting of votes will take place on June 26, and poll authorities here are hopeful that turnout in this bypoll will exceed the voting percentage recorded in the 2020 election.

    In the 2020 polls, the voter turnout in Rajinder Nagar was 58.27 per cent — 58.09 per cent male voters and 58.5 per cent female voters.

    In addition to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress candidates, there are three others from unrecognised parties and eight Independent nominees.

    A total of 190 polling stations, including 13 auxiliary ones, have been set up at 21 locations, equipped with all necessary facilities and amenities for differently-abled people too such as ramps and drinking water, besides creches for mothers if they come to vote with their children.

    Of the total number of eligible voters for the bypoll, 92,221 are male, 72,473 female and four belong to the third gender. Also, 1,899 voters in this assembly seat are in the 18-19 age group.

    The number of eligible voters in the Rajinder Nagar assembly seat for the 2022 bypoll is less than the count of electors in this assembly seat that was for the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, as death and migration of voters have been factored in.

    ALSO READ | Deputy CM Manish Sisodia reaches out to Rajinder Nagar voters

    AAP, which enjoys a reigning popularity in this key assembly constituency, has fielded Durgesh Pathak while BJP has fronted Rajesh Bhatia as its candidate. Prem Lata is the Congress nominee.

    While AAP has exuded confidence that it will register a “record victory” in the bypoll and hand out a crushing defeat to the BJP, the saffron party is hopeful of westing the seat from the ruling party that had bagged 62 of the 70 seats in the 2020 Delhi polls.

    From setting up specialised polling stations, including an all-women one, to deployment of security personnel and running awareness campaigns, the Delhi CEO office has made all preparations to ensure that the bypoll is held in an inclusive, accessible and fair manner.

    According to the residents of the area, the AAP government’s liquor policy and water shortage are among the main issues in the bypoll. The bypoll is taking place amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in the national capital.

    All safety norms will be followed, and hand sanitisers and masks would also be kept at all booths, in case some has forgot to bring them, officials said.

    “For visually-impaired voters, facilities have been created too. The EVM machines will have Braille markings and also on dummy ballot to allow a voter with visual impairment to cast his or her vote independently. Even voters slip will have Braille markings to facilitate them,” Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh had earlier said.

    There are 591 electors, who are persons with disability, 39 voters are visually impaired, 64 are service voters, and 2,486 voters who are in the age group of 80 and above.

  • Congress seeks eight points feedback of bypolls results from in-charges, state presidents

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Following the results of three Lok Sabha and 30 Assembly bypolls, Congress general secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal on Friday sought a report from the in-charge of all the election states and the state presidents for the reasons for the party’s victory as well as defeat.

    By-elections were held in 14 states and one union territory on October 30 of which the results were announced on November 2. The in-charge and the president were asked for a review report of defeat and victory on these points-

    The party sought review reports on eight points including — the reason of by-elections, selection of candidates, campaign and strategy, the impact of coalition, the influence of other opposition parties, the impact of bypolls results on the politics of that state, review of the election results of Congress and any other reason (if any) for the election results.In the recent bypolls in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Himachal Pradesh, Congress won all the seats including one Lok Sabha Seat and three Assembly seats.

    Congress swept the Rajasthan by-polls winning both Dhariawad and Vallabhnagar Assembly seats that went to by-elections. The Party won one Assembly seat in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka each. In Karnataka where there is a BJP government, Congress won the Hangal Assembly constituency, a seat believed to be the chief minister’s stronghold.

    Meanwhile, in states like Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya and West Bengal Congress’ performance remained poor. In Assam, Congress could not be able to win any seat and lost badly in states like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, BJP performed much better in these states.

    While in Bihar, the Opposition unity was at stake, as Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) who earlier fought the polls in alliance, contested the bypolls separately. Here, both the seats that went for bypolls was won by the ruling Janata Dal (United). Following the results, RJD blamed Congress for breaching the alliance principles.

  • Mixed result for BJP in bypolls; swept Assam, lost Himachal

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: The bypoll results of three Lok Sabha and 30 assembly constituencies appear to be a mixed bag for the BJP which won Assam but performed badly in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. BJP Himachal Pradesh unit feels that inflation is one of the reasons behind humiliating defeat in the bypolls.

    In Himachal Pradesh bypolls, BJP lost all the three assembly constituencies and is trailing in one Lok Sabha seat to rival Congress. BJP and its alliance partner United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) won all the five seats in Assam. In Madhya Pradesh out of three assembly constituencies, the ruling BJP won two and Congress one.

    Pointing out that BJP performed well in Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, a senior party leader said, “Where we failed to perform well is due to local issues like ticket distribution and in-fighting.”

    Of three Lok Sabha seats where bypolls were held on Sunday, Congress and BJP are leading in one constituency each, while which Shiv Sena has won one. In the Mandi Lok Sabha seat of Himachal Pradesh, Congress candidate Pratibha Singh, the wife of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh, is leading against BJP’s Kargil war hero Brigadier (Retd) Khushal Thakur.

    BJP candidate in Khandwa Lok Sabha Gyaneshwar Patil is leading. In Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency, Shiv Sena’s Kalaben Mohanbhai Delkar has won the bypoll. The Congress won in by-polls of all three assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh — Fatehpur, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Arki. In Jubbal-Kotkhai, saffron party rebel candidate Chetan Bragta, former head of party, Himachal Pradesh IT department and son of former minister of Himachal Pradesh Narendra Bragta, came second and BJP candidate Neelam Seraik was only able to secure 2,644 (4.67 per cent) from total 56,607 votes polled.

    BJP Himachal Pradesh president Suresh Kumar Kashyap said that results are not up to the expectation and a detailed review will be held to find out reasons for the defeat in all the seats. “There are several reasons for our defeat and inflation is one of them. Congress has made the inflation and rising fuel price an issue and I think that it may have worked in their favour. The BJP, however, will hold a detailed review of results to find out reasons for the defeat and correct the shortcomings while preparing for next assembly polls,” Kashyap said.

    Kashyap admitted that Bragta has damaged the chances of BJP candidates by contesting as independent.

    Reacting to Assam bypoll results, Chief Minister Himant Biswa Sarma tweeted, “In Assam, BJP and allies are all set to register emphatic win on all 5 constituencies in the byepolls by huge margins. This is a loud endorsement of people’s faith in visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Grateful to Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda for your guidance.”

    In Haryana, INLD’S Abhay Chautala has defeated ruling BJP’s Gobind Kanda by securing 43.49 per cent votes in Ellenabad assembly constituency.

    In the bypolls for four assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) won all the four seats which includes two seats on which BJP had won in state assembly polls held earlier this year. Bypolls were held in four seats – Dinhata, Santipur, Khardaha and Gosaba – in West Bengal.

    Dinhata and Santipur constituencies were won by the BJP in assembly polls held earlier this year.

    Nisith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar, BJP Lok Sabha members who chose to remain in Parliament, had vacated the seats. The Khardah and Gosaba assembly seats won by TMC fell vacant after the death of the legislator.

    “State machinery in West Bengal did not allow our candidates and leaders to campaign. We will analyse the results and continue to work to strengthen the party in the state with an eye on the next general election,” a West Bengal BJP leader said.

    Congress also won both assembly constituencies of Rajasthan where bypolls were necessitated after the death of BJP MLA from Dhariawad, Gautam Lal Meena, and Congress MLA from Vallabhnagar, Gajendra Singh Shaktawat. BJP leader losing Dhariwad is a setback for the party and denying tickets to Meena’s son is one of the reasons for the defeat and Vallabhnagar is a stronghold of Congress party which they retained.In Karnataka, BJP and Congress won one seat each. In Andhra Pradesh YSR Congress Party won the leading Badvel assembly constituency. In Telangana, BJP’s candidate and former minister in state government Eatala Rajender won. In Maharashtra Deglur assembly Congress is leading.

  • Bypolls to three Lok Sabha, 30 Assembly seats on October 30: Election Commission

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 30 assembly constituencies spread across various states will be held on October 30, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday. The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

    “The Commission has reviewed the situation related to pandemic, flood, festivals, cold conditions in certain regions, feedback from concerned States/UT and taken into consideration all facts and circumstances and it has decided to hold by-elections to fill vacancies in three Parliamentary Constituencies of UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and 30 vacancies in Assembly constituencies of various states,” the EC said in a statement.

  • States give varied responses to Election Commission on bypoll timings, Covid restrictions

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: At least six of the 16 states where Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls are due are learnt to have responded in writing to the Election Commission on the “timing and manner” of the exercise amid the pandemic, sources aware of the development said on Friday.

    The Commission received responses from at least six states by Friday evening and submissions from other states were expected either tonight or by Saturday, the sources said.

    The responses so far on the restrictions to be imposed to avoid spread of COVID-19 and the timing of the bypolls have been varied, the sources said.

    On Wednesday, top poll panel officials had asked the state governments to send in writing their responses on the “timing and manner” of the exercise.

    The EC had sought to know about the situation of the coronavirus pandemic, floods, law and order scenario and upcoming festivals from the states.

    Bypolls are due in three Lok Sabha seats of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

    The assembly seats where bypolls are due include seven in West Bengal, four in Uttar Pradesh, and three each in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam. The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal is keen on an early bypoll schedule.

    Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, who lost from Nandigram in the assembly elections, needs to get elected as a member of the state Assembly by November 5 to continue in the post.

  • EC takes stock of situation in states where LS, assembly bypolls are due

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Top officials of the Election Commission on Wednesday took stock of the situation in various states, including West Bengal, where Lok Sabha and assembly by-polls are due, as part of an exercise to allow the poll panel to take an informed decision on holding the democratic exercise.

    Sources aware of the meeting said the idea was to know about the issues and challenges being faced by various states due to the coronavirus pandemic, floods and other issues.

    They were also asked about local festivals, holidays as well as the law and order situation.

    In some states, panchayat polls are in progress, the sources pointed out adding that details of events that result in large gatherings were also sought.

    Seven assembly seats are due to go to polls in West Bengal.

    These include two seats where polls were deferred during the assembly elections in the state following the death of candidates.

    Five other bypolls are due in the state due to the death or resignation of sitting MLAs.

    The ruling Trinamool Congress is keen on an early bypoll schedule.

    Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee lost from Nandigram in the assembly elections and needs to get elected as a member of the state legislative assembly by November 5.

    Besides West Bengal, bypolls are due in at least three Lok Sabha and eight assembly seats in other states and UTs.

    According to an EC statement of May 5, there were notified three vacancies in parliamentary constituencies of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh) and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh).

    Also, there were eight vacancies in assembly constituencies of Kalka and Ellenabad in Haryana, Vallabhnagar in Rajasthan, Sindgi in Karnataka, Rajabala and Mawryngkneng in Meghalaya, Fatehpur in Himachal Pradesh and Badvel in Andhra Pradesh.

    On May 5, the poll panel had decided to defer bypolls in these three Lok Sabha and eight assembly seats due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.