Schedule for bye-election to 26 Assemblies Constituencies of Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
Schedule for bye-election to 26 Assemblies Constituencies of Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
The Commission has decided to hold bye-elections to fill vacancies in the following Assembly Constituencies along with General Election to Lok Sabha, 2024:
S. No.
Name of State
Assembly Constituency No. & Name
Reason of vacancy
Bihar
195-Agiaon(SC)
Disqualification of Shri Manoj Manjil
Gujarat
26 – Vijapur
Resignation of Dr. C. J. Chavda
108 – Khambhat
Resignation of Shri Chiragkumar Arvindbhai Patel
136 – Vaghodia
Resignation of Shri Dharmendrasinh Ranubha Vaghela
85 – Manavadar
Resignation of Shri Arvindbhai Jinabhai Ladani
83 – Porbandar
Resignation of Shri Arjunbhai Devabhai Modhwadia
Haryana
21-Karnal
Resignation of Shri Manohar Lal
Jharkhand
31- Gandey
Resignation of Dr. Sarfaraj Ahamad
Maharashtra
30 – Akola West
Death of Shri Govardhan Mangilal Sharma alias Lalaji
Tripura
7- Ramnagar
Death of Shri Surajit Datta
Uttar Pradesh
136 – Dadraul
Death of Shri Manavendra Singh
173 – Lucknow East
Death of Sri Ashutosh Tandan ‘Gopal Ji’
292 – Gainsari
Death of Dr. Shiv Pratap Yadav
403 – Duddhi (ST)
Disqualification of Shri Ram Dular
West Bengal
62-Bhagawangola
Death of Shri Idris Ali
113- Baranagar
Resignation of Shri Tapas Roy
Telangana
71-Secunderabad Cantt.(SC)
Death of Ms. Lasya Nanditha Sayanna
Himachal Pradesh
18 – Dharamshala
Disqualification of Shri Sudhir Sharma
21 – Lahaul & Spiti (ST)
Disqualification of Shri Ravi Thakur
37 – Sujanpur
Disqualification of Shri Rajinder Rana
39 – Barsar
Disqualification of Shri Inder Dutt Lakhanpal
42 – Gagret
Disqualification of Shri Chaitanya Sharma
45 – Kutlehar
Disqualification of Shri Devinder Kumar (Bhutto)
Rajasthan
165 – Bagidora (ST)
Resignation of Shri Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya
Karnataka
36 – Shorapur (ST)
Death of Shri Raja Venkatappa Naik
Tamil Nadu
233 – Vilavancode
Resignation of S Vijayadharani
The Schedule for the bye elections is enclosed at Annexure-I.
Commission firmly believes that pure and updated electoral rolls are the foundation of free, fair and credible elections. Hence, intensive and sustained focus is placed upon improving its quality, health and fidelity. After the amendment in Section 14 of the Representation of the People Act-1950 by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act-2021, there is a provision of four qualifying dates to enroll as a voter in a year. Accordingly, the Commission conducted the Special Summary Revision of Electoral Roll with reference to 1st January, 2024, as the qualifying date, wherein applications were invited from eligible citizens seeking registration in electoral roll with respect to 1st January, 2024 as the qualifying date. After time-bound completion of Special Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls with reference to 1st January, 2024 as the qualifying date, the final publication of the electoral roll has been done on –
However, the process of continuous updation of electoral rolls will continue till the last date of filing nominations, with respect to proximate qualifying date.
The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-election in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly with the help of these machines.
Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter. However, any of the below mentioned identification documents can also be shown at the polling station:
The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to provision of the instruction vide Commission’s letter No. 437/6/1NST/ECI/FUNCT/MCC/2024/(BYE ELECTIONS) dated 02nd January, 2024 (available on the Commission’s website).
Candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through Television channels on three occasions during the campaign period. A political party that sets up candidates with criminal antecedents is also required to publish information about criminal background of its candidates, both on its website and also in newspapers and Television channels on three occasions.
Commission vide its letter No. 3/4/2019/SDR/Vol. IV dated 16th September, 2020 has directed that the period specified will be decided with three blocks in the following manner, so that electors have sufficient time to know about the background of such candidates:
(Illustration: If the last date for withdrawal is 10th of the month and poll is on 24th of the Month, the first block for publishing of declaration shall be done between 11th and 14th of the Month, second and third blocks shall be between 15th and 18th and 19th and 22nd of that Month, respectively.)
This requirement is in pursuance of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition (C) No. 784 of 2015 (Lok Prahari Vs. Union of India & Others) and Writ Petition (Civil) No. 536 of 2011 (Public Interest Foundation & Ors. Vs. Union of India & Anr.).
This information will also be available on an App titled, ‘know your candidates’.
The Commission has issued COVID Guidelines to be followed during the conduct of the General Election and Bye Elections which are available at Commission’s website.