EC may hold Uttarakhand, Bengal bypolls in next two months

The Election Commission is thinking of holding by-elections in Uttarakhand and West Bengal in the next two months, as per constitutional provisions and requirements, sources have told The Daily Guardian. The election schedule may be announced by the end of this month or early next month.

Tirath Rawat, who replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 10 March, is the Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal. But to continue as chief minister, he will have to resign from the Lok Sabha and get elected to the state Vidhan Sabha. Tirath Rawat’s deadline ends on 10 September.

According to the Constitution, leaders who are not members of the legislature can be appointed as ministers, but they will have to secure legislative membership within six months of being sworn in, or lose the position.

Last week, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the bypolls to six assembly seats in the state could be held within seven days as the Covid-19 situation is under control. She had alleged that the Election Commission of India is waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approval to hold the bypolls.

Banerjee said in the secretariat that if that is so, then “I will ask the Prime Minister to give his approval. The situation is fine now, but if the third wave of the pandemic comes, you cannot do anything.” She said, “We are waiting (for the decision of the Election Commission) to conduct the by-election as soon as possible because the situation of Covid-19 is completely under control. That’s why I think they can conduct elections in seven days. There is no need to give that much time to the candidates.”

The Trinamool Congress came to power in Bengal for the third time, but Banerjee herself was defeated by Suvendu Adhikari from the Nandigram Assembly seat. Although she has challenged this defeat in the High Court, according to the rules of the Constitution, she can remain CM only for six months without being elected as an MLA. In such a situation, an early by-election is necessary.

By-elections are pending in Khardah, Samsherganj, Jangipur, Shantipur, Bhawanipur, Dinhata and Gosaba Assembly seats in West Bengal. After being defeated in Nandigram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is now preparing to contest the by-election from Bhawanipur, sources said. Recently, Mamata Banerjee’s minister Shobhandev Chattopadhyay had resigned from the post of MLA of the Bhawanipur Assembly seat. That Assembly seat is also vacant. It is believed that the CM will contest the by-election from Bhawanipur itself.