EC announces bypolls to RS seats in Bengal, Kerala on Nov 29

Share

The Election Commision Sunday announced bypolls to one Rajya Sabha seat each in West Bengal and Kerala on November 29.

The bypolls were necessitated by the resignation of Trinamool Congress’s Arpita Ghosh and Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani from the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

Ghosh had resigned in September. Her term was to end in April 2026. Mani had quit in January. His term would have ended in July 2024.

The poll notification will be issued on November 9, the poll panel said in a statement. The counting of votes, as per practice, will be held an hour after voting concludes at 4 pm on November 29.

During the Covid-19 second wave, the EC had decided to put off the Kerala Rajya Sabha bypoll till the situation improved.

The commission also announced biennial elections to six Legislative Council seats in Telangana and three in Andhra Pradesh on November 29.

The Telangana seats fell vacant in June and the Andhra Pradesh seats in May following the retirement of members.

These seats, too, were supposed to go to polls in the midst of the second wave, in May, but were put off.

The EC also announced a bypoll to a Legislative Council seat in Maharashtra that fell vacant after the death of member Sharad Namdeo Ranpise in September. This bypoll, too, will be held on November 29.