The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for by-elections in 48 Assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha seats, including Kerala’s Wayanad parliamentary seat, which fell vacant following the resignation of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. These elections will take place across 15 states.
The by-elections in states such as Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal were necessitated due to resignations and the deaths of members.
Announcing the by-elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said: “We have 48 Assembly constituencies and two parliamentary constituencies in 15 states. They will undergo elections.”
According to the schedule announced by the CEC, polling for all seats, except for the Nanded parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra and the Kedarnath Assembly seat in Uttarakhand, will take place on 13th November. The notification will be issued on 18th October, and the last date for filing nominations is 25th October.
The scrutiny of nominations will occur on 28th October, and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is 30th October.
The notification for the Nanded parliamentary constituency and the Kedarnath Assembly seat will be issued on 22nd October.
The last date for filing nominations is 29th October, with the scrutiny of nominations set for the next day. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 4th November, and polling will be held on 20th November, as per the schedule.
The counting of votes will take place alongside the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly polls on 23rd November.
It is noteworthy that in June, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced that Rahul Gandhi would retain the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat and vacate the Wayanad constituency. Subsequently, Gandhi resigned as a member of the Wayanad seat. Rahul had won both seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress chief also announced that the party’s general secretary and Rahul’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, would contest from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.