Minister of State for home and in-charge of Radhanpur assembly seat Pradipsinh Jadeja's words that the bypolls for the remaining three seats would also be announced soon, came true after the Election Commission of India on Sunday declared the bypolls for Radhanpur and Bayad.
The EC has stated that bypolls for the two Gujarat assembly constituencies will be held on October 21. The last date for nominations is September 30 while the last date for any withdrawal is October 3. Votes will be counted on October 24.
"After taking into consideration inputs from the Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat, and various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions, etc, the Commission has decided to hold bye-elections," the EC said in statement.
THREE MORE TO GO
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- Gujarat has a total of nine vacant assembly seats
- On Saturday, the EC had declared the bypolls for four seats — Tharad, Kheralu, Amraiwadi and Lunawada
- It was then being speculated why Radhanpur and Bayad had not been included
- The seats were vacated by Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala on July 5 after they voted with BJP in Rajya Sabha polls
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"All the instructions issued for the general elections to legislative assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra shall also be applicable to the aforementioned bye-elections," the release said.
With the announcement, the Congress said it had become clear that the independence of the EC was in doubt. "On Saturday BJP minister Jadeja said bypolls for the other seats will be announced in a day. This means the party had prior information. To us it seems the BJP is telling the EC when to hold polls," said Manish Doshi, spokesperson of the Congress. He said the poll date announcements show the EC was working as per the dictates of the ruling party.
Gujarat has a total of nine vacant assembly seats. Of this, three — Morva Hadaf, Dwarka and Talala — are caught in litigation after their MLAs were disqualified for one or the other reason.
On Saturday, the EC had declared the bypolls for four other seats — Tharad, Kheralu, Amraiwadi and Lunawada — all of which were vacated by their elected representatives after they won Lok Sabha elections. It was then being speculated why Radhanpur and Bayad had not been included. The seats were vacated by
Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala on July 5 after the two voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Thakor had earlier quit various posts in Congress but had continued as a party MLA. The Congress then moved the high court seeking his disqualification.
Both Thakor and Zala joined the BJP on July 19. Although there are speculations that the saffron party might repeat Thakor from Radhanpur and Zala may get another shot at Bayad, those in the know say a last-minute surprise could be in the offing too.
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