Press Note - Schedule for bye-elections to fill casual vacancies in the State Legislative Assemblies of Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh
It has been a clear and consistent
policy of the Election Commission to hold the bye-elections at the earliest
possible opportunity in order to ensure that no segment of the Indian people
are left unrepresented for unnecessary length of time. There is 1 (one) clear
vacancy in the State Legislative Assembly of Bihar, 4 (four) clear vacancies
in the State Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir and 1(one) clear
vacancy in the State Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh as detailed below:
-
VACANCIES IN STATE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES
Sl.No. Name of State Number and
name of Date of
Vacancy
Constituency
1. Bihar 188-Patna
West A.C. 31.12.05
2. Jammu & 7-Rafiabad A.C 05.10.05
Kashmir 12-Sangrama A.C 18.10.05
15-Pattan
A.C 16.06.05
54-Bhaderwah A.C 01.03.06
3. Madhya Pradesh 144-Budhni
A.C
14.02.06
These are clear vacancies, which
are not subject to any election petition
or appeal pending in any court and the remaining tenure of the State Legislative
Assemblies of above-mentioned States is more than one year.
As per the provisions of Section
151(A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (read with the Section
150 of the Act), the Commission is required to fill vacancies in the states
of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh within the period of six months from the date
of their occurrence. However, no such period is specified for filling the
casual vacancy(ies) in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir as
per the provision of Section 152 of the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of
the People Act, 1957.
Accordingly, the Commission has decided
to hold bye-elections to fill above mentioned 6 (Six) vacancies in the Legislative Assemblies of Bihar, Jammu &
Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh as per schedule given below: -
Programme Schedule-I Schedule-II
(For
Bihar only) (For Jammu & Kashmir
and Madhya
Pradesh)
1. Issue
of Notification 30.03.06(Thursday) 31.03.06(Friday)
2. Last
date of making 06.04.06(Thursday) 07.04.06(Friday)
Nominations
3.
Scrutiny of 08.04.06(Saturday)
08.04.06(Saturday)
Nominations
4. Last
date for 10.04.06
(Monday) 10.04.06 (Monday)
withdrawal of
candidatures
5. Date
of Poll 24.04.06(Monday) 24.04.06(Monday)
6.
Counting of votes 27.04.06(Thursday)
27.04.06(Thursday)
7. Date
before which 02.05.06(Tuesday) 02.05.06(Tuesday)
election shall be
completed
ELECTRONIC
VOTING MACHINES (EVMs)
The Commission has decided to use
EVMs in all these bye-elections in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers
of EVMs have been made available to these states and all steps have been taken
to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly
with the help of these machines.
IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS
In consonance with the past practice,
the Commission has decided that the voter’s identification shall be mandatory
in the aforementioned bye-elections at
the time of poll. In order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her
franchise, if his/her name figures in the Electoral Roll. Separate instructions
will be issued to allow additional documents, apart from the Electors’ Photo Identity Cards, for identification
of voters at the time of poll in these bye-elections.
MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT
The Model Code of Conduct shall come
into force with immediate effect i.e. 16th March 2006,
in the districts in which the whole or any part of Assembly Constituency going
for bye-election is included. The Model Code of Conduct shall be applicable
to all candidates, political parties and the State Governments. The Model
Code of Conduct shall also be applicable to the Union Government as far as
these States are concerned.
Election
Commission of India
New Delhi, Phalguna 25, 1927
March 16, 2006
RM/AMA-160308
Press Note Bye-elections
(Release ID :16618)