The maximum number of seats that go to the polls is Madhya Pradesh.
New Delhi:
By-elections to 54 assembly seats in 10 states will be held on November 3, the Electoral Commission said today. In addition, a parliamentary constituency in Bihar and two seats in the Manipur assembly will go to the polls on 7 November. The counting of the votes will take place on November 10. The list of states where elections will be held includes Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Haryana and Karnataka. , Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
“After taking into consideration various factors such as weather conditions, the movement of forces, the pandemic, etc., the commission decided to hold partial elections,” said a note from the Electoral Commission.
The commission has also decided not to hold by-elections in seven constituencies in four states. Elections on the seats, two in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and one in Bengal, will take place early next year. The Commission said that the Chief Secretaries of the states have expressed difficulties in holding elections for these seats.
The maximum number of seats that go to the polls is in Madhya Pradesh, where a portion of the seats was vacated when Jyotiraditya Scindia switched camps from Congress to the BJP with her loyalists. Twenty-seven seats will be available for election in the state.
In terms of numbers, Madhya Pradesh is followed by Gujarat, where eight seats will go to the polls, and Uttar Pradesh, where the corresponding number is seven.
Last week, the Election Commission announced the dates for the assembly elections in Bihar. The three-phase election will take place on October 28, November 3 and 7, and the vote count will take place on November 10.
Announcing the elections amid a global pandemic, Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said the coronavirus shows no signs of regressing. “Life has to go on,” he had told reporters, noting that students across the country simply sat for the competitive medical and engineering entrance exams.
For the safety of voters, workers, and political party leaders, the Election Commission produced an elaborate list of dos and don’ts, which includes including an additional hour of voting, masks and gloves to voters and no physical contact during the campaign.
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