The Election Commission on Saturday announced by-polls to three assembly constituencies in Delhi which fell vacant after BJP MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha in the recently-held general elections.
Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said by-polls to Krishna Nagar, Mehrauli and Tughlaqabad assembly seats will be held on 25 November along with the first phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand.
The three seats of the 70-member Delhi Assembly fell vacant in May after sitting Bharatiya Janata Party legislators Harsh Vardhan, Pravesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri were elected to the Lok Sabha. ‘For Delhi, we have come to the end of the road...we were awaiting developments in the Supreme Court. Now, is the time (for by-polls in Delhi),’ Sampath told reporters here. 28 November is the deadline for the poll body to hold by-polls in Delhi after the seats fell vacant.
Election Commissioner H S Brahma later told reporters that in case the SC or the Delhi Lt Governor deciding to dissolve the Delhi Assembly, the EC notification regarding the by-polls would be withdrawn.
The notification for the by-polls will be issued on 28 October, kickstarting the process of filing nominations. The last date of making nominations is 5 November, while the scrutiny will take place on 7 November. The last date of withdrawing names from the electoral battle has been fixed on 10 November.
While polling will take place on 25 November, counting will take place on 23 December, along with those for Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand. The poll process in Delhi has to be completed by 29 December.
The Delhi Assembly election results threw up a ‘hung assembly’ as both major parties, BJP with its 32-seat haul and AAP with its 28 tally, fell short of the majority figure of 35 seats.
Sitting MLAs from these constituencies Parvesh Sahib Singh, Ramesh Bishuri and Harsh Vardhan were elected to the Lok Sabha subsequently vacating these seats.
As per the Commission, the last date for filing nominations for the by-elections is 5 November and the last date for withdrawal of candidacy is 10 November.