The world’s largest democracy is set to hold elections on Apr 19, as announced by chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar in a presser today.

The by-election for Gujarat’s assembly seats will also take place coinciding with the general elections on May 7 in phase 3.

Currently, the Gujarat Assembly stands at 176, with six vacant for by-elections.

Which seats to hold by-elections in Gujarat?

By-elections will be held for the five vacant assembly seats in the state, including Khambhat, Vijapur, Waghodia, Porbandar, and Manavadar.

A total of eight seats belong to Congress, one AAP (Aam Aadmi Party), and one independent leader resigned from their party, and MLA posts are vacant.

Five of them joined the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) after the assembly elections in 2022.

List of 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

The last elections were held in 2022 for the 182-member Gujarat Legislative Assembly. At that time, the BJP won a record 156 seats, the Congress won 17, the Aam Aadmi Party five, independents three, and the Samajwadi Party one.