As per reliable sources and news agencies; the Election Commission of India has recently announced a change in the date of by-polls in 14 assembly constituencies of Kerala, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. Bye-elections scheduled for Nov 13 will now take place on Nov 20.
The Election Commission of India had earlier declared voting on November 13, the results of which had to be declared on November 23.
The Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had announced the schedule for by-polls in 48 Assembly constituencies and two parliamentary constituencies spread across 15 states.
In Rajasthan, by-polls are to be held in Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar and Ramgarh Assembly seats. Out of the seven seats on which by-polls are to be held, four of them were with the Congress. Two of these by-elections are being held due to the deaths of the MLAs: Ramgarh’s Congress MLA Zubair Khan and Salumbar’s BJP MLA Amritlal Meena.
In five constituencies, the MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, necessitating by-polls. They are Congress MLA Brijendra Ola from Jhunjhunu; Congress MLA Harish Chandra Meena from Dausa; Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLA Hanuman Beniwal from Khinsivar; and, Rajkumar Roat of Bharat Adivasi Party from Chaurasi.
Currently, the 200-seat state Assembly has 114 MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party, 65 of the Congress, three of the Bharat Adivasi Party, two of the Bahujan Samaj Party, one of the Rashtriya Lok Dal and eight Independent MLAs.
As per official data, there are 1,862 polling stations and 19,36,532 voters in the seven Assembly seats that will hold by-polls.
The Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20; while, Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases on November 13. Votes will be counted on November 23.
By-elections to five Assembly constituencies in Assam will be held on November 13. While four of these constituencies were held by the BJP-led NDA, one was held by the Congress. The by-polls were necessitated as these Assembly constituencies fell vacant with the election of the incumbent MLAs to the Lok Sabha earlier this year. Dholai’s BJP MLA Parimal Suklabaidya was elected to the Lok Sabha from Silchar. Behali’s BJP MLA Ranjit Dutta won the Sonitpur Lok Sabha seat. BJP ally AGP’s Bongaigaon MLA Phanibhushan Choudhury was elected to the Lok Sabha from Barpeta; while, UPPL’s Sidli MLA Joyanta Basumatary was elected from the Kokrajhar Lok Sabha seat.
Congress MLA from Samaguri, Rakibul Hussain, had won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat by a record margin of over 10 lakh votes. The ruling NDA has decided that the BJP will contest Dholai, Behali and Samaguri, while AGP will fight in Bongaigaon and the UPPL in Sidli.
In Sikkim by-polls to the Soreng-Chakhung and Namchi-Singhithang Assembly constituencies will be held on November 13.
The Soreng-Chakung Assembly seat was vacated by Chief Minister Tamang who decided to retain the Rhenock constituency after winning the Assembly elections from both the segments. The Namchi-Singhithang seat stands vacant after the CM’s wife Krishna Kumari Rai resigned days after being elected as its MLA.
In a statement, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) said it was confident about securing a landslide victory in both Assembly constituencies as the Himalayan state has witnessed significant progress in all sectors under the leadership of CM Tamang. The SKM will set another milestone similar to the historic results of recent Assembly elections, it claimed.
The SKM had won 31 of the 32 seats in the Assembly elections held along with the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. Later, the lone SDF MLA Tenzing Norbu Lamtha, who was elected from Shyari, switched sides, leaving the House without any opposition.
By-elections to Budhni and Vijaypur Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh pose a fresh challenge for the Congress which had lost the last by-poll from Amarwara in Chhindwara district. The byelections to Budhni, earlier represented by BJP veteran and Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Vijaypur, will be held on November 13 and votes will be counted on November 23. The Budhni seat in Sehore district fell vacant after sitting MLA and ex-CM Chouhan was elected to Lok Sabha from the Vidisha constituency. The contest for the Vijaypur segment, situated in Sheopur district, became necessary after senior Congress leader Ramniwas Rawat resigned and joined the BJP. Rawat was subsequently inducted into the Madhya Pradesh cabinet headed by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
The bypoll for the Kedarnath Assembly seat in Uttarakhand will be held on November 20. The seat stands vacant following the death of MLA Shaila Rawat, who had won the seat on a BJP ticket in the 2022 Assembly polls. The Kedarnath seat, located in Rudraprayag district, is part of the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency, currently held by the BJP. The model code of conduct is now in effect in the district and will remain in force until November 25.
As per a recent announcement, by-elections to four Assembly seats — Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), Gidderbaha, and Barnala –in Punjab will be held on November 20. The four Assembly seats fell vacant after MLAs from these constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who was Congress MLA from Gidderbaha, was elected from the Ludhiana parliamentary seat while Raj Kumar Chabbewal, a Congress MLA who later joined AAP, became MP from the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who was Congress MLA from Dera Baba Nanak seat, got elected from Gurdaspur parliamentary seat. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who was AAP MLA from Barnala, was elected as MP from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.
The election code of conduct has into effect in the 4 districts where these constituencies are located — Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Sri Muktsar Sahib, and Barnala. The total number of voters in the four constituencies is 6,96,316, with a total of 831 polling stations. The Dera Baba Nanak seat has 1,93,268 electors and it will have 241 polling stations. In Chabbewal (SC) reserve seat, the number of voters is 1,59,254, with 205 polling stations. In Gidderbaha, the voter count stands at 1,66,489 with 173 polling stations. Barnala has 1,77,305 voters and will have 212 polling stations.
Gujarat bypoll to Vav assembly seat in Gujarat will be held on November 13 while counting of votes will take place on November 23. The seat stands vacant after sitting Congress MLA Geniben Thakor resigned in June after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Banaskantha.
The Visavadar assembly seat in Gujarat’s Junagadh district is also vacant since the sitting AAP MLA Bhupendra aka Bhupat Bhayani resigned and joined the BJP. But as petitions challenging Bhayani’s election are still pending before the Gujarat High Court, by-poll to the constituency was not announced. Congress’ strength in the 182-seat assembly is 12. The ruling BJP has 161 MLAs. There are four legislators of the AAP, one of the Samajwadi Party and two independents.
Earlier, raising questions over the credibility of exit polls, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar shared, “A major distortion is created due to exit polls and the expectations set by them.” He added, “There is a need for self-introspection—what was the sample size, where was the survey conducted, how did the result come, and what is my responsibility if it did not match that result? Are there disclosures? All of these need to be examined.”
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