By-election date for ten assembly constituencies in North East announced; polling on October 30; Counting on November 2

Guwahati: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the dates of the Assembly by-elections in four Northeastern states. The by-polls for five assembly constituencies Assam, 3 in Meghalaya and one in Mizoram and Nagaland, will be held on October 30.  

Assam Pradesh BJP president Bhabesh Kalita told 'Organiser' that the saffron party is ready for the by-election. He said the ruling party is confident enough to win all five constituencies and its alliance partner UPPL in the BTR region. It should be mentioned that after the election of Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to the upper house on Monday, the Majuli constituency, which Sonowal represented in the Assam assembly, also will go for a poll soon.

The dates of the by-polls have been announced to fill the vacancies in 30 Assembly constituencies and three parliamentary constituencies of UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The Election Commission said it has reviewed the situations related to the pandemic, flood, festivals, cold conditions in certain regions, feedback from concerned states/UT, and all facts and circumstances. It has decided to hold by-polls to fill vacancies in 3 parliamentary constituencies and 30 in Assembly constituencies.

In Assam, the Assembly by-polls will be held in 5 constituencies, including Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur, Mariani, and Thowra. The MLAs of Gosaigaon and Tamulpur in the BTR region died in the covid pandemic. Morioni and Thowra Congress MLAs Rupjyoti Kurmi, Shusanta Borgohain, and Bhabanipur AIUDF MLA Phanidhar Talukdar had resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

In Meghalaya, the Assembly by-polls will be held in three constituencies, including Mawryngkneng (ST), Mawphlang (ST), and Rajabala. In Mizoram, the Assembly by-polls will be held in Tuirial (ST) constituency. The Assembly poll-polls will also be held in Shamtorr-Chessore (ST) constituency in Nagaland.

The Gazette notification will be issued on October 1, 2021, and the last date of nominations is October 8, 2021. The date for scrutinising nominations is October 11, 2021. The Commission has fixed October 13 as the last date for withdrawal of candidatures. The polling will be held on October 30, 2021 (Saturday), while the counting of votes will be held on November 2, 2021 (Tuesday).

The other states where the by-polls will be held include Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal.