EC reschedules bypolls of 14 Assembly seats to Nov 20

The decision was taken after political parties cited "large scale social, cultural and religious engagements on that day."

The Election Commission of India on Monday, November 4, ordered a reschedule of by-elections in 14 Assembly seats in Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The by-elections will now be held on November 20 instead of November 13.

The Election Commission took the decision after parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) cited “large scale social, cultural and religious engagements on that day.”

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.

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.

The 14 Assembly seats that will be repolled are Palakkad in Kerala, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabberwal, Gidderbaha, and Barnala in Punjab, Meerapur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Sishamau, Phulpur, Katehari, and Majhawan in Uttar Pradesh.

In Kerala, the bye-election to Palakkad assembly seat has been rescheduled while that for Chelakkara assembly and Wayanad Lok Sabha seats will be held as scheduled earlier on November 13.

(With PTI inputs.)