In view of the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19, the Election Commission (EC) of India on Wednesday decided to defer bye-elections in three Parliamentary constituencies and eight Assembly constituencies in different states and Union Territories (UT).
According to EC's notification, the Parliamentary constituencies where bye-polls were postponed are Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh) and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh).
The eight Assembly constituencies where by-polls are deferred are Kalka and Ellenabad in Haryana, Vallabhnagar in Rajasthan, Sindgi in Karnataka, Rajabala and Mawryngkneng (ST) in Meghalaya, Fatehpur in Himachal Pradesh and -Badvel (SC) in Andhra Pradesh.
"There are a few more vacancies of seats for which reports and notifications are awaited and being confirmed," EC said.
Notably, as per the provisions of section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the vacancies are required to be filled, through bye-elections within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy, provided that the remainder of the term in relation to the vacancy is one year or more.
However, the Election Commission has decided that due to the surge of COVID-19 infection in the country it would not be appropriate to hold bye-elections till the pandemic situation significantly improves and conditions become conducive to hold these bye-elections.
EC said it will make a decision in the matter at an appropriate time in the future after taking inputs from the concerned states and assessing the pandemic situation from mandated authorities like National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs).
( With inputs from ANI )
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