Farmers Movement Archive

Haryana byelection: Ellenabad goes to the polls on October 30

Polling will be held on October 30 for the Ellenabad constituency, which fell vacant after Indian National Lok Dal’s lone MLA, Abhay Singh Chautala, resigned from the Haryana assembly on January 27 in support of the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws. The Election Commission said on Tuesday that the votes will be counted on November 2. Also read: EC announces by-poll schedule for 3 Lok Sabha, 30 assembly seatsAccording to the Representation of People Act, an assembly byelection must be conducted within six months of the creation of the vacancy. However, the bypolls were delayed due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Section 151-A of the Act provides that the EC, in consultation with the central government, can defer the byelection if it certifies that it is difficult to hold the elections within the period. According to the schedule announced by the EC, a notification will be issued on October 1 and the nomination process will start on the same day. The last date for filing nominations is October 8. The nominations will be scrutinised on October 11 and the last date for withdrawing it is October 16. The Ellenabad seat in Sirsa has been considered a stronghold of the INLD and it had been represented by former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and his son Abhay Singh Chautala. A few days ago, Pawan Beniwal, who was runner-up in the 2019 assembly elections from Ellenabad, switched sides from the BJP to the Congress in the presence of Congress state chief Kumari Selja. INLD supremo OP Chautala had been accusing the state government of delaying the bypoll due to the fear of losing security deposit.

Hindustan Times

28-09-2021

Chandigarh