NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Saturday announced by-elections on five assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar and Chhattisgarh and in Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency (UP) simultaneously with the assembly polls in Gujarat. The voting for bypolls to all six seats will take place on December 5. The counting of votes will be conducted on December 8. The results of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections will also be announced the same day.
The Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. He passed away last month following prolonged illness. By-election on Rampur assembly seat in the state was necessitated by disqualification of incumbent Azam Khan, also from the SP, following his conviction and sentencing in a hate speech case from 2019. A Rampur court recently had found Khan guilty of making provocative remarks against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including UP chief minister of UP Yogi Adityanath during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
He was convicted to three years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 2,000. Following his conviction, the office of UP Assembly Speaker announced his disqualification. The other four assembly seats are Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur (reserved) i n Chhattisgarh. The last date of filing nomination for contesting bypolls is November 17.
The assembly seats in Odisha, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh remain vacant due to the demise of sitting MLAs. The senior BJD leader Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha, a five-time MLA from Padampur, passed away at the age of 64 years on October 3. Bhanwar Lal Sharma, a veteran Congress leader, who represented Sardarshahar assembly constituency for seven times died on October 9.
Congress MLA, who was also the Deputy Assembly Speaker Manoj Singh Mandavi, a prominent tribal face, represented the Maoist-hit Bhanupratappur in Kanker district for three terms. He died on October 16. Bihar RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahni, representing Kurhani assembly seat, was recently awarded three years in prison for fraudulent withdrawal of money against LTC claims on forged bills during his Rajya Sabha terms hence was disqualified.