The Election Commission of India, on Monday, announced the schedule of the by-election to Gola Gokrannath assembly seat in Lakhimpur Kheri district.
The polling for bypoll will be held on November 3 and counting of votes will be taken up on November 6.
The by-election to Gola Gokrannath assembly seat has been necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6. The legislator succumbed to a heart attack. Giri was elected to the UP Assembly from this seat for five consecutive terms.
This is the first by-election in the tenure of the 18th UP Assembly. The state assembly elections were held in February/March this year.
The by-election is likely to witness a close contest between the opposition Samajwadi Party and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The Bahujan Samaj Party as per its tradition never contests by-elections. The BSP had, however, broken its tradition and had contested the by-election to Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat in June this year.