By-election for 3 Assembly seats in Delhi on 21 August

The by-elections on three Assembly seats of Delhi, vacated after the three Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs won in the Parliamentary elections, is likely to be held on August 21. Sources in the Delhi Electoral Office said a notification regarding the by-elections is likely to be announced within a week.

‘It is expected that the Election Commission of India will announce the by-elections date on 26 July. 

The by-polls are likely to be held on 21 August and the counting of votes will be held on 25 August,’ said source at the Delhi Electoral office.

The three Assembly seats — Krishna Nagar in East Delhi, Tughlakabad and Mehrauli in South Delhi are lying vacant after the recent Parliamentary elections.

Krishna Nagar MLA and former Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan contested and won in the Parliamentary elections from Chandni Chowk Parliamentary constituency. Currently, he is the Union health minister. 

Tughlakabad MLA Ramesh Bidhuri and Mehrauli MLA Pravesh Verma contested and won from South Delhi and West Delhi Parliamentary seats respectively.

‘The Delhi Electoral office is ready for the by-elections. As soon as a notification is issued regarding this, the office will brief about the preparations of the elections,’ said a senior Delhi Electoral official.

Meanwhile, the Congress, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party have intensified campaigns in these three Assembly segments. While the AAP is likely to repeat its candidate from all three Assembly segments, the BJP and the Congress are planning to field new faces.

In the Assembly elections, Harsh Vardhan won with a margin of 43,150 votes. Congress’ V K Monga, a former BJP man, secured the second spot in Krishna Nagar. 

Pravesh Verma won with a margin of mere 4,564 votes as AAP’s Narinder Singh Sejwal gave a tough fight and secured the second position in Mehrauli. 

Bidhuri won with a margin of mere 5,946 votes and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Sahi Ram secured the second spot in Tughlakabad area.