Bypolls to 3 LS, 30 assembly seats on Oct 30

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced bypolls to three Lok Sabha and 30 assembly seats on October 30, saying the schedule was finalised after reviewing the situations related to the pandemic, floods, festivals, cold conditions in certain regions and feedback from local authorities.

The Lok Sabha bypolls will be held to one seat each in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Madhya Pradesh (Khandwa) and Himachal Pradesh (Mandi). Assembly by-elections will be held at one constituency each in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Nagaland, and Telangana; two each in Karnataka, Bihar, and Rajasthan; three each in Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Madhya Pradesh; four in West Bengal; and five in Assam.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

The bypolls were earlier deferred in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The poll watchdog’s guidelines for holding elections during the pandemic will apply to the by-elections on October 30 and mandate limited participation in the campaign and the use of masks, sanitisers, and gloves.

“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 poll panel said in a statement.

Earlier this month, ECI announced bypolls to four assembly seats on September 30 (Thursday).

They include West Bengal’s Bhabanipur, where Mamata Banerjee is contesting as she needs to get elected to the state assembly by November to continue as the chief minister of the state.

The fresh bypoll schedule was announced on the day the Calcutta high court rejected a public interest litigation against prioritising the Bhabanipur bypoll.

Apart from Bhabanipur, by-polls are also being held to Jangipur, Samerganj (West Bengal), and Pipli (Odisha) seats on Thursday.

Welcoming the announcement on bypolls to three assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, state Congress chief Kamal Nath tweeted: “Congress is fully prepared for these elections. We will announce our candidates in due course. We have full faith in the people here.”