The election commission announced the poll schedule on Thursday for Jasdan assembly constituency by-elections. The polling will be held on December 20 while the counting will be on December 23, according to the schedule. The bypolls were necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Kunvarji Bavaliya resigned and defected to the BJP on July 3.
Kunvarji was appointed as cabinet minister by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani immediately after he joined the BJP. Bavaliya has to win the polls to retain his post in the government. But these polls may be a tough fight, if the Congress fields a strong Koli community candidate challenging Bavaliya for the Koli-dominated constituency.
The chief electoral officer (CEO) in Gujarat, Dr S Murali Krishna addressed the media in Gandhinagar after the announcement. He said, "The model code of conduct comes into force in Jasdan constituency area and Rajkot district after the polls are announced by commission. There are 2.30 lakh voters registered in the constituency including 1.21 lakh male and 1.09 lakh female electors. As the roll revision process is going on, there may be an increase in the number of voters too."
"The notification of polls will be issued on November 26 while filing of nomination shall start from December 3. Scrutiny of nomination will be held on December 4 and last day of withdrawal of form will be December 6. The entire election process will be announced completed on December 26," the CEO added.
Arrangements were made including model code of conduct monitoring and monetary and expenditure surveillance. There will be 256 polling stations, and ballot units including EVMs and VVPAT machines have been already procured by the CEO.
The chief electoral officer clearly said that there would be no effect on the relief work in Jasdan area owing to the taluka being declared scarcity hit, after the polls were announced. He also said that similarly, the purchase of groundnuts at minimum support price also would not be affected.
Meanwhile, seven members of Rajkot District Panchayat from Jasdan Taluka left the Congress and joined the BJP in presence of Bavaliya on Thursday. The Congress reacted to the event saying that it would not bear any consequence on poll results, as voters in the area would remain loyal to the Congress.
The former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela also addressed a press conference in Ahmedabad and said that he would support the Congress candidate in bypolls and because of unrest among local BJP leaders, Bavaliya would face the heat.
TOUGH FIGHT
Bavaliya has to win the polls to retain his post in the government. But these polls may be a tough fight, if the Congress fields a strong Koli community candidate challenging Bavaliya for the Koli-dominated constituency.
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