Along with the dates for assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra, the Election Commission on Tuesday announced bypoll dates for two Lok Sabha seats—Wayanad in Kerala and Nanded in Uttarakhand—as well as 48 assembly constituencies.
The bypoll for the Wayanad parliamentary seat in Kerala—vacated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who chose to retain the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh—and 47 assembly seats will take place on November 13, coinciding with the first phase of elections for the Jharkhand Assembly.
While, the bypoll for the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra, which became vacant following the death of Congress MP Vasant Chavan, and the Kedarnath assembly constituency will be held on November 20, alongside the Maharashtra assembly elections and the second phase of Jharkhand elections.
Meanwhile, the bypoll for the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal and the Milkipur assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh were not announced due to pending election petitions in the respective high courts against the previous winners.
All votes for the assembly elections and bypolls will be counted on November 23.
The 48 assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha seats for the bypolls are spread across 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Kerala, Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Sikkim.
Nine Assembly Seats in Uttar Pradesh
Bypolls for nine of the ten vacant assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held on November 13, excluding Milkipur in Ayodhya district, as an election petition is pending in the high court against the previous winner.
The assembly seats where by-elections will take place are Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Kundarki, Phulpur, Sisamau, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, and Kahir. Eight of these seats became vacant after their MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha, while the bypoll in Sisamau is due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.
Seven Assembly Seats in Rajasthan
Voting for bypolls in seven assembly seats in Rajasthan will also take place on November 13. The affected seats are Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar, and Ramgarh. Four of these seats were previously held by Congress.
Two by-elections are necessary due to the deaths of MLAs: Zubair Khan (Congress) in Ramgarh and Amritlal Meena (BJP) in Salumbar. The other seats became vacant when their MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Five Assembly Constituencies in Assam
Five assembly constituencies in Assam will hold by-elections on November 13. Four of these are held by the BJP-led NDA, while one is held by Congress. The bypolls are needed because the previous MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
Notable vacancies include Dholai’s BJP MLA Parimal Suklabaidya, who won the Silchar Lok Sabha seat, and Behali’s BJP MLA Ranjit Dutta, who secured the Sonitpur seat.
Four Assembly Seats in Punjab
By-elections for four assembly seats—Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), Gidderbaha, and Barnala—will also take place on November 13.
These seats became vacant after their MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (Gidderbaha) and Raj Kumar Chabbewal (Chabbewal) were elected from Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur, respectively, while Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (Dera Baba Nanak) won from Gurdaspur, and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Barnala) was elected from Sangrur.
Two Assembly Seats in Madhya Pradesh
By-elections for Budhni and Vijaypur in Madhya Pradesh will take place on November 13. The Budhni seat was vacated when former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha. The Vijaypur seat became vacant after senior Congress leader Ramniwas Rawat resigned to join the BJP.
Two Assembly Seats in Sikkim
Bypolls for the Soreng-Chakhung and Namchi-Singhithang assembly constituencies in Sikkim will be held on November 13.
The Soreng-Chakung seat was vacated by Chief Minister Tamang, who chose to retain the Rhenock constituency. Meanwhile, the Namchi-Singhithang seat fell vacant after the Chief Minister’s wife, Krishna Kumari Rai, resigned days after being elected as its MLA.
One Assembly Seat Each in Gujarat and Uttarakhand
The bypoll for the Vav assembly seat in Gujarat will take place on November 13. This seat became vacant after sitting Congress MLA Geniben Thakor resigned in June after winning a Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, the bypoll for the Kedarnath Assembly seat in Uttarakhand will be held on November 20. This seat became vacant following the death of MLA Shaila Rawat in July. She had previously won the seat on a BJP ticket in the 2022 assembly elections.
(With inputs from PTI)
