NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday announced bypolls to 48 Assembly constituencies including three seats in Karnataka (Channapatna, Sandur and Shiggaon), nine seats in Uttar Pradesh and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. The announcement was made by the Chief Commissioner Rajiv Kumar at a press conference in which he also announced dates of assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
There are 10 vacant Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, but bypolls were announced for nine seats. Kumar said election was not announced for Milkipur seat in Ayodhya as an election petition is pending. While polling will be held in 47 Assembly seats and Wayanad Lok Sabha seat on November 13, it will be held in one Assembly constituency in Uttarakhand and Nanded constituency in Maharashtra on November 20.
The bypolls are spread over 15 states — Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The largest number of bypolls will be held in Uttar Pradesh and seats going to the polls are Meerapur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Phulpur, Katehari, Majhawan, and Sishamau.
The bypolls in Uttar Pradesh are crucial for BJP as it suffered a setback in Lok Sabha polls. BJP could win only 33 seats compared to 62 it won in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP would be keen to regain its winning momentum in Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party, led by Akhilesh Yadav, won 37 seats in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year. Congress, which fought the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Samajwadi Party as part of INDIA bloc, won six seats in the state.
The bypolls are also crucial the opposition parties. The Samajwadi Party has already declared candidates on six of the ten seats and has said it would contest the bypolls with the Congress.
In Rajasthan, bypolls will be held in Chorasi, Khinwsar, Dausa, Jhunjhunu, Deoli-Uniara, Salumber and Ramgarh. In West Bengal the bypolls will be held in Taldangra, Sitai, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur and Madarihat. (ANI)