Bypolls to be held for Badrinath, Manglaur assembly seats on 10 July
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 10 Jun: Bypolls in the two vacant assembly constituencies of Uttarakhand will be held on 10 July. After the declaration of the schedule by the Election Commission of India earlier in the day, Chief Electoral Officer of Uttarakhand, Dr BVRC Purushottam, held a press briefing at the Media Centre at the Secretariat here, today, and shared details regarding the bypolls in the vacant seats of Manglaur (District Haridwar) and Badrinath (District Chamoli).
It may be recalled that, while the Manglaur Assembly constituency seat had fallen vacant due to the demise of the incumbent MLA, Sarvat Karim Ansari of BSP on 30 October, 2023, the Badrinath seat fell vacant just before the general elections when the incumbent MLA Rajendra Singh Bhandari quit his party, the Congress, and resigned from his seat. Bhandari has since joined the BJP and is likely to be the party’s candidate from this seat in the byelection.
On the other hand, three-time former MLA Qazi Nizamuddin is likely to be the Congress candidate from Manglaur. Nizamuddin won this seat twice on the BSP ticket and once on the Congress ticket but had lost to BSP’s Sarvat Karim Ansari in 2022. This time, in the Parliamentary elections, he ensured large lead for the Congress in his assembly segment.
BVRC Purushottam informed the media that by order of the Election Commission of India, the date for by-elections for the two assembly seats of Uttarakhand state 04-Badrinath and 33-Manglaur has also been announced. The notification for the election will be issued on 14 June, 2024 (Friday), for by-elections of assembly seat 04- Badrinath and 33-Manglaur. The last date for filing nominations shall be 21 June, 2024 (Friday). Nominations will be scrutinised by 24 June, 2024 (Monday). The last date for withdrawal of nominations will be 26 June 2024 (Wednesday). Polling will be held on both the assembly seats on 10 July 2024 (Wednesday) and counting of votes will be done on 13 July 2024 (Saturday).
Dr Purushottam also stated that, in view of the assembly by-elections, the Model Code of Conduct (MCOC) has come into effect from today in Chamoli t and Haridwar districts, which will remain in force till 15 July, 2024 (Monday).
Purushottam further stated that, in all, 210 polling booths will be set up in Badrinath assembly seat. There are 1.02 lakh voters and 2566 service voters in the Badrinath assembly seat. At the same time, in all, 132 polling booths will be set up for the Manglaur assembly seat. There are 1.199 lakh voters and 255 service voters in Manglaur constituency.
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Mukta Mishra and Assistant Chief Electoral Officer Mastu Das were also present during the press briefing.
