The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday announced bypolls to two Lok Sabha seats — one each in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh — and 14 Assembly constituencies across 11 States will be held on April 17 when the fifth phase of the West Bengal assembly election will also take place. The counting will be held on May 2, the same day as the results for elections in four states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal, and the union territory of Puducherry.
By-election to Tirupati LS seat was necessitated after the death of sitting MP Balli Durga Prasad of the YSR Congress Party in September last year due to COVID-19 disease. The seat is reserved for the Scheduled Caste category. The bypoll to the Belgaum Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka is being held following the death of former Union minister Suresh Angadi in September last year.
The EC has also announced bypolls to 14 assembly seats -- three in Rajasthan, two in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Uttarakhand. “In view of spread of COvID-19, the Commission on 21st August, 2020, issued broad guidelines, which are to be followed strictly during the conduct of elections,” the EC said.