Election Commission sets stage for Lok Sabha, Assembly bypolls

The Asian Age.

India, All India

Polling will be held on April 9, 12, says Election Commission.

(Representational image)

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday announced that bypolls to Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on April 9 and 12, respectively. The EC also announced the schedule for byelections to three parliamentary and 12 Assembly constituencies.

The Assembly bypoll in Radhakrishnan Nagar seat in Tamil Nadu, which fell vacant following the demise of then chief minister J. Jayalalithaa will be held on April 12, while byelection to Malapuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, which fell vacant following the demise of IUML leader E. Ahamed will also be held on April 12.

Among the 12 Assembly seats for which bypolls will be held is Delhi’s Rajouri Garden. It fell vacant after Jarnail Singh of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided to contest the Punjab Assembly polls held in February. The byelection for the seat is on April 9.

Anantnag seat fell vacant in June 2016 after chief minister Mehbooba Mufti won the Assembly polls and resigned from the Lok Sabha. The Srinagar Lok Sabha seat was vacated by former PDP leader Tariq Hamid Karra, who had resigned in protest against alleged “brutalities” on Kashmir protesters.

The other Assembly seats that will go to polls are Dhemaji in Assam, Bhoranj in Himachal Pradesh, Ater and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Kanthi Dakshin in West Bengal, Dholpur in Rajasthan, Nanjangud and Gundlupet in Karnataka, Litipara in Jharkhand and Upper Burtuk in Sikkim.

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