Bypolls in Bengal can't be pushed back: ECI

Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has communicated to the state that they will not be able to postpone the dates of by-elections at the Ballygunge Assembly constituency and Asansol Parliamentary constituency scheduled on April 12.

The state government had written to the Election Commission for postponing the date of the by-elections in these two places with the Higher Secondary examination scheduled during election time.

According to sources, the Commission had reasoned that limited time availability with the poll panel is a deterrent in pushing back the by-election dates.

According to the Commission's rule, by-elections need to be completed within six months after any constituency becomes vacant. Considering this, the Commission has to complete the poll process within April 18. Hence, pushing back the April 12 date will not be possible.

The state had pointed out that the Higher Secondary examinations are scheduled on April 11 and 13. As the schools serve as venues for the polls, examination and elections at the same time may cause problems. The results of the bypolls are scheduled on April 16.

Subrata Mukherjee who had won the Ballygunge seat and was serving as the state Panchayats and Rural Development minister died on November 4 last year. The seat is presently vacant.

In the case of Asansol, Babul Supriyo had won the Asansol Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket and became an MP for the second time. However, he was fielded by the saffron party from the Tollygunge seat in 2021 Assembly polls in which he lost to Trinamool Congress' Aroop Biswas.

Supriyo joined the TMC in September last year and resigned as MP in October following which the Asansol Parliamentary seat was also lying vacant.