The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday announced the bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 30 assembly constituencies spread across various states on October 30. The decision was taken after reviewing the situations related to the pandemic, floods, festivals, cold conditions in certain regions and feedback from local authorities. The counting of votes will take place on November 2.
“The Commission has reviewed the situation related to a 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 EC said in a statement.
The 30 Assembly seats going to bypolls include one each from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland and Telangana; two seats each in Bihar, Karnataka and Rajasthan; three seats each in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya; four seats in West Bengal; and five in Assam. The election will be held on Lok Sabha seats -- Dadar and Nagar Haveli of UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu; Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
The Mandi Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of Ramswaroop Sharma (BJP) at his Delhi residence in March this year. The by-election to the Khandwa parliamentary constituency was necessitated following the death of BJP member Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan. Mohan Delkar, an Independent Lok Sabha member from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, was found dead in a Mumbai hotel in February, necessitating the bypolls.
The by-polls were deferred in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The EC reiterated its orders regarding COVID-19 safety norms, including restricting election meetings to 30% of the allowed capacity of an indoor venue or 200 people and a complete ban on roadshows and bike rallies.
As per the EC notification, the gazette notification for the by-polls will be released on October 1, and the last date for filing nominations will be October 8.