LIVE: Maharashtra election on Nov 20; Jharkhand on Nov 13, 20; result on Nov 23
Lack of transparency in polling process, but we are ready to fight: KC Venugopal
"We are confident of winning both the Assembly elections and the by-elections being held across the country. The Jharkhand Assembly's term is till the last week of December, but they announced it first. The Maharashtra Assembly's term is ending on November 26, but they announced the Maharashtra elections last. I think there is a lack of transparency in it, but we are ready to fight and win the elections," says Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.
Nov 20 will decide Maharashtra's fate: CM Eknath Shinde
Voting will be held in Maharashtra on 20th November, the day will decide the fate of the state. The works done by Mahayuti in last 2.5 years are before the people to see. Maharashtra is heading towards progress. The state is No. 1 in all services, No. 1 in welfare schemes. Its results will be seen in the elections. The works of Maha Vikas Afghadi and the state government will be assessed. Mayayuti will form the government with an absolute majority: Eknath Shinde
Punjab: Bypolls to four assembly seats on Nov 13
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced that by-elections to four assembly seats -- Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), Gidderbaha, and Barnala --in Punjab will be held on November 13.
Counting of the votes will take place on November 23, said Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C.
The four assembly seats fell vacant after MLAs from these constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who was Congress MLA from Gidderbaha, was elected from the Ludhiana parliamentary seat while Raj Kumar Chabbewal, a Congress MLA who later joined AAP, became MP from the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who was Congress MLA from Dera Baba Nanak seat, got elected from Gurdaspur parliamentary seat. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who was AAP MLA from Barnala, was elected as MP from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.
The Punjab CEO said the notification for the by-elections will be issued on October 18.
The last date for filing nominations is October 25 and the scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on October 28, Sibin C said, adding that the last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 30.
He further said with the announcement of the bypoll dates, the election code of conduct has come into effect in the districts where these constituencies are located -- Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Sri Muktsar Sahib, and Barnala.
The code of conduct will remain in force until the completion of the election process till November 25.
Sibin C said as of October 10, the total number of voters in the four constituencies is 6,96,316, with a total of 831 polling stations.
Assam: Bypolls to 5 Assembly constituencies on Nov 13
By-elections to five assembly constituencies in Assam will be held on November 13, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.
While four of these constituencies were held by the BJP-led NDA, one was held by the Congress. The bypolls were necessitated as these assembly constituencies fell vacant with the election of the incumbent MLAs to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
Dholai's BJP MLA Parimal Suklabaidya was elected to the Lok Sabha from Silchar. Behali's BJP MLA Ranjit Dutta won the Sonitpur Lok Sabha seat.
BJP ally AGP's Bongaigaon MLA Phanibhushan Choudhury was elected to the Lok Sabha from Barpeta, while UPPL's Sidli MLA Joyanta Basumatary was elected from the Kokrajhar Lok Sabha seat.
Congress MLA from Samaguri, Rakibul Hussain, had won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat by a record margin of over 10 lakh votes.
The ruling NDA has decided that the BJP will contest Dholai, Behali and Samaguri, while AGP will fight in Bongaigaon and the UPPL in Sidli.
State Congress president Bhupen Borah went to New Delhi to finalise the party's strategy and candidates for the bypolls.
The notification for the bypolls will be issued on October 18, and the last date for filing nominations is October 25. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on October 28, and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 30.
The votes will be counted on November 23.
Bypolls in 7 assembly seats in Rajasthan to be held on Nov 13, results on Nov 23
Voting for bypolls on seven assembly seats in Rajasthan will be held on November 13, the results of which will be declared on November 23, according to the Election Commission of India.
At a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced the schedule for bypolls in 48 assembly constituencies spread and two parliamentary constituencies spread across 15 states.
In Rajasthan, bypolls will be held in Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar and Ramgarh assembly seats.
Out of the seven seats on which bypolls are to be held, four of them were with the Congress.
Two of these by-elections are being held due to the deaths of the MLAs: Ramgarh's Congress MLA Zubair Khan and Salumbar's BJP MLA Amritlal Meena.
In five constituencies, the MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, necessitating bypolls. They are Congress MLA Brijendra Ola from Jhunjhunu, Congress MLA Harish Chandra Meena from Dausa, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLA Hanuman Beniwal from Khinsivar and Rajkumar Roat of Bharat Adivasi Party from Chaurasi.
Currently, the 200-seat state assembly has 114 MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party, 65 of the Congress, three of the Bharat Adivasi Party, two of the Bahujan Samaj Party, one of the Rashtriya Lok Dal and eight Independent MLAs.
As per official data, there are 1,862 polling stations and 19,36,532 voters in the seven assembly seats that will hold bypolls next month.