Bypolls to Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, 44 assembly seats including Channapatna on Nov 13

New Delhi: Bypolls to 48 Assembly, including Karnataka’s Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna, and two Lok Sabha seats will be held on November 13 and 20 even as the Election Commission did not announce schedule for Basirhat Lok Sabha seat and Milkipur Assembly seat citing pending election petitions.

The bypolls to Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna will be held on November 13 along with 44 Assembly seats and Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. The bypolls to the Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand and the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra will be held on November 20 owing to festivities.

The resignation of BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai (Shiggaon), JD(S)’ HD Kumaraswamy (Channapatna) and Congress’ E Tukaram (Sandur) following their election to Lok Sabha had led to the bypolls in these seats.

Like in Karnataka, most of the bypolls were necessitated due to MLAs getting elected to Lok Sabha while two were caused by deaths of sitting legislators and one in Uttar Pradesh (Shishamau) due to disqualification of the MLA.

The two Lok Sabha seats – Wayanad from where Rahul Gandhi resigned and Nanded where bypolls were necessitated due to sitting MP Vasantrao Balwant Rao Chavan passed away – belong to Congress. Out of 48 Assembly seats, BJP has 13, Congress 11, Trinamool Congress 5, Samajwadi Party 4 and RJD, AAP and SKM two each.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said bypolls to Basirhat Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal where sitting MP Haji Nurul Islam passed away and Milkipur Assembly seat  in Uttar Pradesh where sitting MLA Awadesh Kumar was elected to Lok Sabha were not announced as election petitions are pending.

The EC’s decision immediately attracted the ire of Trinamool Congress with its senior leaders claiming that the election petition filed for Basirhat is “a got up match” between BJP and the EC to delay the bypoll. “Trinamool would have won easily hence it has not been announced,” a senior Trinamool leader said while Derek O’Brien, Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha leader alleged, “I heard EC is shifting their office to BJP headquarters.” 

The highest number of seats which are going to bypolls is Uttar Pradesh (9) followed by West Bengal (6). 

One of the most watched bypoll will be in Wayanad where Congress has already announced the candidature of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. This will be her debut in electoral politics and if she wins from the seat considered a Congress stronghold, Parliament could see three Gandhis – Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka – together. 

Sonia is presently in Rajya Sabha while Rahul, who left Wayanad as he decided to keep Rae Bareli, is the Leader of the Opposition. Priyanka’s possible entry in Lok Sabha is likely to add more firepower to the Opposition.