Source : INDIATV NEWS
The Visavadar seat in Gujarat’s Junagadh district has remained vacant since December 2023 after AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the BJP.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for bypolls to five Assembly Constituencies of Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal. The polling will take place on June 19 (Thursday), and the counting of votes will be done on June 23 (Monday). Two assembly bypolls will be held in Gujarat, one each will take place in Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab.
In Gujarat, the bypoll to the Kadi seat was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki. Another bypoll to the Visavadar seat in the state is taking place due to the resignation of sitting member Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai.
In Kerala, the Nilambur seat will go to bypoll since P V Anvar has resigned, while byposs are to be held in Punjab’s Ludhiana seat due to the death of sitting member Gurpreet Bassi Gogi. Byelection to the Kaliganj Assembly seat in West Bengal has been necessitated due to the death of sitting assembly member Nasiruddin Ahamed.
Congress to contest Gujarat bypolls alone, no alliance with AAP
Gujarat Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil earlier announced that the party will contest bye-elections to the Visavadar and Kadi Assembly seats independently, without partnering with its INDIA bloc ally, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Gohil clarified that the decision was taken unanimously after analysing past electoral trends in the state. “Gujaratis have never voted for a third front. Here, it is either Congress or the BJP,” he said. He further added, “During the last elections, the AAP tried its best. All of the big leaders of the AAP campaigned for the party, but they were still only able to get 10.5-11 per cent of votes and damaged the Congress party in elections.”
The Visavadar seat in Junagadh district has remained vacant since December 2023 after AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the BJP. Meanwhile, the Kadi seat in Mehsana, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki on February 4.
Congress fields Bharat Bhushan Ashu for Ludhiana West bypolls
Congress earlier announced Bharat Bhushan Ashu as the party candidate for the forthcoming by-election to the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 64 – Ludhiana West Constituency. His candidature for contesting the bypoll from the seat was approved by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. “The Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for the candidature of Bharat Bhushan Ashu as party candidate for the forthcoming bye-elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 64-Ludhiana West Constituency,” the AICC press release said.
The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.Earlier, on February 26, the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora as its candidate for the Ludhiana West by-election.
