BHUBANESWAR: Amidst the blame game between BJD and BJP over the delay in announcing the date for by-poll to the Bijepur assembly constituency, the Election Commission of India (ECI) today fixed the by-election date on February 24.
As per the notification issued by the ECI, counting and announcement of the results will be done on February 28. A gazette notification in this regard will be issued on January 30. As per the schedule, while the last date for filing nomination is February 6, the candidates can withdraw their candidatures by February 9. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on February 7. “After taking into consideration various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions, the Commission has decided to hold the bypoll on February 24,” said ECI said.
The notification said the model code of conduct will come into force immediately in the districts in which the areas of assembly constituency falls. The by-poll was necessitated due to the death Congress MLA Subal Sahu. While chief minister Naveen Patnaik has announced Rita Sahu, the wife of Subal as BJD's candidate for the by-poll, other political parties including Congress and BJP are yet to announce candidates.