The by-elections for seven Assembly seats in Rajasthan will take place on November 13, with results to be announced on November 23, as per the Election Commission of India.
During a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar revealed the bypoll schedule for 48 Assembly constituencies and two parliamentary constituencies across 15 states.
In Rajasthan, the bypolls will be held in the constituencies of Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar, and Ramgarh. Of the seven seats up for by-elections, four were previously held by the Congress.
Two of these by-elections are due to the deaths of sitting MLAs: Zubair Khan of Congress from Ramgarh, and Amritlal Meena of BJP from Salumbar.
The remaining five bypolls are required as the respective MLAs were elected as MPs in the recent Lok Sabha elections. They include Brijendra Ola (Congress, Jhunjhunu), Harish Chandra Meena (Congress, Dausa), Hanuman Beniwal (Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Khinvsar), and Rajkumar Roat (Bharat Adivasi Party, Chaurasi).
PTI
Currently, the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly consists of 114 BJP MLAs, 65 from Congress, three from the Bharat Adivasi Party, two from the Bahujan Samaj Party, one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal, and eight independents.
According to official data, 1,862 polling stations and 19,36,532 voters are set to participate in the by-elections next month.
Following the announcement, Congress state president Govind Dotasra stated that the BJP "will win zero seats in the bypolls."
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has also announced that Assembly elections in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while polls in Jharkhand will take place in two phases on November 13 and 20. The votes for these elections will also be counted on November 23.
Additionally, the by-elections for five Assembly seats in Assam are scheduled for November 13. Of these, four seats were held by the BJP-led NDA, and one by the Congress. The by-elections were necessitated due to the election of sitting MLAs to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
Notably, BJP's Parimal Suklabaidya from Dholai, Ranjit Dutta from Behali, AGP’s Phanibhushan Choudhury from Bongaigaon, and UPPL’s Joyanta Basumatary from Sidli all vacated their Assembly seats after winning Lok Sabha elections. Congress’s Rakibul Hussain from Samaguri also vacated his seat after securing the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat with a significant margin.
The ruling NDA has decided that the BJP will contest Dholai, Behali, and Samaguri, while AGP will compete in Bongaigaon and UPPL in Sidli. Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah has traveled to New Delhi to finalize the party’s candidates and strategy.
The notification for the bypolls will be issued on October 18, with the last date for filing nominations on October 25. Nomination scrutiny will occur on October 28, and the withdrawal deadline is October 30. The results will be declared on November 23.
Sikkim bypolls
The Election Commission has announced that bypolls for the Soreng-Chakhung and Namchi-Singhithang Assembly constituencies will take place on November 13. The Soreng-Chakung seat became vacant after Chief Minister Tamang chose to retain the Rhenock constituency, having won both segments in the recent Assembly elections. The Namchi-Singhithang seat was vacated by the CM's wife, Krishna Kumari Rai, who resigned shortly after being elected as its MLA.
In a statement, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) expressed confidence in securing a decisive victory in both constituencies, citing significant progress in the state under CM Tamang’s leadership. The SKM claimed that the upcoming by-elections will mark another historic milestone, akin to its sweeping success in the recent Assembly elections. The party also announced plans to form a parliamentary committee to select candidates for the by-elections.
Earlier this year, the SKM won 31 of the 32 seats in the Assembly elections, which were held alongside the Lok Sabha polls. The only opposition MLA, Tenzing Norbu Lamtha of the SDF, later joined the SKM, leaving the Assembly without opposition.
As per the Election Commission, the official gazette notification for the by-elections will be issued on October 18. The last date for filing nominations is October 25, with scrutiny scheduled for October 28. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 30, and the counting of votes will take place on November 23.
Madhya Pradesh bypolls
The upcoming byelections in Madhya Pradesh's Budhni and Vijaypur Assembly constituencies present a new challenge for the Congress, following its recent loss in the Amarwara bypoll in Chhindwara district, according to sources.
The Budhni seat, previously held by BJP leader and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and the Vijaypur seat, will see elections on November 13, with vote counting on November 23.
Budhni, located in Sehore district, became vacant after Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha. Meanwhile, a byelection in Vijaypur, in Sheopur district, was triggered by the resignation of senior Congress leader Ramniwas Rawat, who joined the BJP and was later inducted into Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s cabinet.
Candidates have until October 25 to file nominations, with scrutiny set for October 28 and the withdrawal deadline on October 30.
The BJP's election committee met on Monday to finalize candidates for the two seats. The committee approved Rawat's name for Vijaypur and shortlisted Ramakant Bhargava, Raghunath Singh Bhati, Ravi Malviya, and Kartikeya, son of former CM Chouhan, for Budhni.
In the previous bypoll, BJP's Kamlesh Shah secured a win in the Amarwara (ST) seat by over 3,200 votes, defeating Congress candidate Dheeran Shah Invati in July.
Uttarakhand bypolls
The Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday that the by-election for Uttarakhand's Kedarnath Assembly seat will take place on November 20. The seat became vacant after the death of MLA Shaila Rawat in July. Rawat, who won the seat on a BJP ticket in the 2022 Assembly elections, had also represented the constituency in 2012 as a Congress MLA. She lost in 2017 but reclaimed the seat in 2022.
Kedarnath, located in Rudraprayag district, falls under the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency, which is currently held by the BJP. According to Additional Chief Election Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande, the election notification will be issued on October 22, with October 29 as the last day for filing nominations. Nominations will be scrutinized on October 30, and candidates can withdraw until November 4. The vote counting is scheduled for November 23, Jogdande said.
The district is now under the model code of conduct, which will remain in effect until November 25.
Welcoming the by-election date, Pradesh BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt expressed confidence that the party would replicate its strong performances seen in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir in the Kedarnath bypoll. He claimed that the BJP would secure the seat with a record-breaking vote margin, citing the significant development work done in the constituency by the "double engine" government. Bhatt also highlighted that the party's booth and Panna committees, formed during the Lok Sabha polls, are already active and that the BJP is fully prepared for the upcoming election.
Punjab bypolls
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that by-elections for four Assembly constituencies in Punjab—Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), Gidderbaha, and Barnala—will take place on November 13. Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C. stated that the vote counting will be conducted on November 23.
These seats became vacant after the MLAs representing these constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, formerly the Congress MLA from Gidderbaha, was elected as the MP for Ludhiana, while Raj Kumar Chabbewal, a former Congress MLA who joined AAP, became the MP for Hoshiarpur. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a former Congress MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, was elected as the MP for Gurdaspur. Additionally, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, an AAP MLA from Barnala, secured the Sangrur parliamentary seat.
The CEO announced that the notification for the by-elections will be issued on October 18. The last day for filing nominations is October 25, followed by the scrutiny of nominations on October 28. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 30. With the announcement of the by-election dates, the election code of conduct has come into effect in the affected districts—Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Sri Muktsar Sahib, and Barnala—and will remain in place until the election process concludes on November 25.
As of October 10, there are 6,96,316 registered voters in the four constituencies, with a total of 831 polling stations. The Dera Baba Nanak constituency has 1,93,268 voters and 241 polling stations, while Chabbewal (SC) has 1,59,254 voters and 205 polling stations. Gidderbaha has 1,66,489 voters with 173 polling stations, and Barnala has 1,77,305 voters with 212 polling stations.
Sibin C. also informed that district election officers (DEOs) have been appointed for these constituencies: Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta for Dera Baba Nanak, Hoshiarpur DC Komal Mittal for Chabbewal (SC), Muktsar DC Rajesh Tripathi for Gidderbaha, and Barnala DC Poonamdeep Kaur for Barnala. Additionally, the sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) of these constituencies have been appointed as the returning officers for their respective Assembly seats.
Gujarat bypolls
On Tuesday, both the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress expressed optimism about their chances of winning the by-election for the Vav assembly seat in Gujarat. The Election Commission announced earlier in the day that the bypoll will take place on November 13, with vote counting scheduled for November 23. This seat became vacant after Congress MLA Geniben Thakor resigned in June following her election to the Lok Sabha from Banaskantha.
Historically, Vav has been a stronghold for Congress, with Thakor winning the seat in both 2017 and 2022. In a video message, Thakor stated that, as in past elections, people from all communities would work together to ensure Congress's victory in the upcoming bypoll.
Kirtisinh Vaghela, the BJP's Banaskantha district president, expressed confidence that the BJP would secure a win this time around. Thakor, a two-time MLA, previously defeated BJP candidate Rekhaben Chaudhary, who was contesting her first election, by over 30,000 votes in the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat. Thakor was the only Congress candidate to achieve victory in Gujarat. In 2017, she gained recognition as a significant contender by defeating senior BJP leader and current assembly speaker Shankar Chaudhary, who was then a state minister, for the Vav assembly seat.
Additionally, the Visavadar assembly seat in Gujarat's Junagadh district is vacant due to the resignation of AAP MLA Bhupendra (also known as Bhupat Bhayani), who joined the BJP. However, since petitions challenging Bhayani's election are still pending in the Gujarat High Court, the bypoll for this constituency has not been announced.
Currently, Congress holds 12 seats in the 182-member assembly, while the ruling BJP has 161 MLAs. The assembly also includes four AAP legislators, one from the Samajwadi Party, and two independents.
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