Amidst political temperature high in state after Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on the premises of persons close to Chief Minister Hemant Soren and JMM MLA Sarfaraj Ahmad resigning from MLA without any reasons, on Friday a delegation of JMM met Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar submitting a memorandum for holding the bypoll to the Gandey assembly seat ''at the earliest''.

The seat has fallen vacant after JMM legislator Sarfaraj Ahmad resigned from the assembly on December 31. A notification in this regard was issued by the assembly secretariat on January 1.

A six-member delegation of the JMM led by party general secretaries Vinod Pandey and Supriyo Bhattacharya visited the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar during the day and submitted a memorandum to him with a request to conduct the by-election.

Later, Pandey told reporters, ''We urged him to conduct the bye-election to Gandey assembly seat within six months (from the date of resignation). The seat has fallen vacant after party MLA Sarfaraj Ahmad put down his papers.'' According to Section 151A of the Representation of People Act, 1951, there is a provision to hold a by-election within six months in case the tenure of the assembly is more than one year, he said.

''The first session of the fifth Jharkhand Assembly was convened on January 6, 2020. According to Article 172 of the Constitution of India, the tenure of the fifth Jharkhand Assembly is till January 5, 2025,'' the JMM said in its memorandum.

Pandey said that since more than one year is left in the tenure of the fifth assembly, the by-election should be conducted within six months.

''The CEO assured us that our request would be forwarded to the ECI and whatever guideline is received from the commission will be followed,'' he said.

Earlier, BJP MP from Godda constituency, Nishikant Dubey, in an X post, had said that with assembly elections in Jharkhand due in less than a year, by-election to Gandey cannot be conducted now.

The JMM delegation meeting CEO assumed importance as a few days back, BJP state president Babulal Marandi wrote a letter to Governor CP Radhakrishnan not to hold the by-election of Gandey seat as less than one year is left for the Assembly poll.

As per Marandi’s plea mentioned that although the Constitution’s Article 164 (3) & (4) has the provision of a bypoll within six months, but section 151A of the Representation of People’s Act
1951 maintains that by-election can’t be held if the tenure  of the assembly is less than one year. Even Bombay High Court in 2019 in its judgement maintained the same.

In Jharkhand case the fifth Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha was declared on December 29, 2019 while Gandey MLA resigned from office on December 31, 2023, which is amply clear that election can't be held for a period which is less than one year.