NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said that the court has given 30 days time to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for judicial remedy after he was convicted in a criminal defamation case, and said that the Commission will wait before announcing bypolls to the Wayanad parliamentary constituency.
“We have six months’ time to hold a by-election after a seat falls vacant. The trial court has given 30 days time for judicial remedy. So, we will wait”, Kumar said in a press conference here.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Lok Sabha on March 24 following his conviction by the Surat court in a criminal defamation case for the ‘Modi surname’ remark.
Asked about the Aam Aadmi Party’s status as the national party, the CEC said that its status is under review by the Commission. When inquired about the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the CEC said that the commission is aware of the “vacuum” which needs to be filled.
“The SSR (special summary revision) was conducted on October 1 last year in Jammu and Kashmir. The SSR is conducted with a cut-off date of January 1 in the entire country. We did it there because we wanted to complete the process as fast as possible. This process is to bring them at par, as far as the voter list is concerned, with rest of the country. We are aware that there is a vacuum and that needs to be filled”, he said. (ANI)