The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday announced by-elections to one assembly seat each in Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Chhattisgarh and Kerala. The bypolls for Dantewada (Chhattisgarh), Pala (Kerala), Badharghat (Tripura) and Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh) Assembly seats will be held on September 23. The notification for the by-elections would be issued on August 28, counting will be held on September 27, the EC said.
The bypoll in Hamirpur was necessitated by the disqualification of BJP MLA Ashok Kumar Singh Chandel following his conviction in a murder case. He was awarded life imprisonment in the murder case of five persons. By-elections to 12 other Assembly seats in UP are also due as most of the sitting MLAs won the Lok Sabha elections this year. But the dates are yet to be announced by the poll panel.
The Dantewada, Pala and Badharghat bypolls were necessitated following the death of the respective sitting MLAs.
The Pala seat had become vacant after the demise of Kerala Congress (M) supremo KM Mani. The former Kerala Finance Minister, KM Mani had represented the Pala constituency since its formation in 1965 and until his death on April 9 earlier this year. According to political experts, this round of Pala bypoll may see some internal bickering that could decide the fate of the second-biggest Kerala ally of Congress - Kerala Congress (Mani) or KC(M) party. After the recent death of Mani, the party was split between Mani’s son Jose K Mani and a splinter faction led by senior leader PJ Joseph. Both groups have accused each other of a hostile takeover of the party.
The Dantewada seat in Chhattisgarh fell vacant after sitting BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed by alleged Naxals in April this year. The Bhadarghat seat in Tripura fell vacant after the death of sitting MLA Dilip Sarkar.