2 weeks Ago
The Election Commission rescheduled the by-polls in 14 assembly constituencies across Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The voting in these assembly constituencies will on November 20, instead of November 13. The Election Commission said the changes in the polling date was made due to “large scale social, cultural and religious engagements” on November 13.
On requests from national and state parties namely the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the BSP, the RLD and others and to rule out any possibility of low voter turnout, “the Election Commission reschedules by-polls in Assembly Constituencies in three states of Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh from November 13 to November 20”. Earlier on October 15, the Election Commission had announced bye-election to 48 Assembly constituencies and two Parliamentary Constituencies of 15 states – wherein the date of poll for all bye-elections, except in 16-Nanded PC of Maharashtra and 07-Kedarnath AC of Uttarakhand, was fixed on November 13. The counting of votes was scheduled on November 23.
The 14 Assembly constituencies where voting day was rescheduled from November 13 to November 20 include two constituencies in Kerala , all four in Punjab and all nine constituencies in Uttar Pradesh . They are: Kerala : Palakkad constituency Punjab : Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal, Gidderbaha, Barnala Uttar Pradesh : Meerapur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karnal, Sishamau, Phulpur, Katehari, Majhawan The date of counting in these assembly constituencies remains unchanged. The results of all the bypolls will be delcared on November 23.
Why polling date was rescheduled According to the Congress, a significant portion of the electorate in the Palakkad assembly seat in Kerala will celebrate the festival of Kalpathi Rastholsavam from November 13 to 15. In Punjab, the party had said, the 555th Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated on November 15 and an 'akhand path' will be organised from November 13 onwards, news agency PTI reported. The BJP, BSP and RLD had said that in Uttar Pradesh, people travel for three-four days ahead of Kartik Purnima, which will be celebrated on November 15.
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