Gujarat By Elections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections on Mar 16. Along with this, ECI will also release the polling and counting dates for the by-elections in Gujarat.

By-elections will be held for the six vacant assembly seats in the state.

4 Congress, 1 AAP (Aam Aadmi Party), and 1 independent leader resigned from their party and MLA posts. Five of them have joined the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) after the assembly elections in 2022. The by-elections will be held in Khambhat, Vijapur, Visavadar, Waghodia, Porbandar, and Manavadar seats.

Two EVMs will be installed in the polling centres of these six assembly constituencies, as voters will vote for the Lok Sabha as well as the assembly candidate.

In the 2022 elections of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP bagged a record 156 seats. Congress won 17, AAP won 5, independents won 3, and the Samajwadi Party (SP) won 1 seat.

The revised seat structure of the assembly is such that the BJP has 156 seats, Congress has 13, AAP has 4, independents have 2, and SP has 1.

Resigned MLAs:

• Arvind Ladani (Congress) - Manavadar

• Chirag Patel (Congress) - Khambhat

• CJ Chavda (Congress) - Vijapur

• Arjun Modhwadia (Congress) - Porbandar

• Bhupat Bhayani (AAP) - Visavadar

• Dharmendrasinh Vaghela (independent) - Waghodia

Speculations are abuzz about who will be the candidates for these six seats from the parties. The BJP is likely to field the turncoats.

Along with the Lok Sabha and Gujarat by-elections, the ECI will also announce the schedule for assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.

A press conference for the same will be live-streamed on ECI’s social media platforms.

Also read:

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