The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced the schedule for by-elections to fill vacant Assembly seats in Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal. Polling is set to take place on 19 June, while counting of votes will be held on 23 June.
In Gujarat, by-elections will be conducted in Kadi and Visavadar. These polls were necessitated following the death of Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki in February and the resignation of Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai.
Kerala will witness a bypoll in the Nilambur Assembly constituency, following the resignation of PV Anvar in January. Anvar, an LDF-backed legislator, resigned after being appointed convenor of the Kerala unit of the Trinamool Congress.
Punjab’s Ludhiana West will go to the polls to fill the vacancy left after the demise of MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi earlier this year. In West Bengal, a by-election in Kaliganj will be held to replace Nasiruddin Ahamed, who died of cardiac arrest in February.
The poll body, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, also issued two significant instructions aimed at improving voter experience and tightening poll-day procedures.
The Commission has approved the introduction of mobile phone deposit facilities for voters outside polling stations. Recognising the widespread use of mobile phones and the challenges they pose on polling day, especially for senior citizens, women and persons with disabilities (PwD), the Commission said, “Only mobile phones shall be allowed within 100 metres of the polling station and that too in switched-off mode.”
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A press note issued on Sunday added, “Very simple pigeonhole boxes or jute bags shall be provided near the entrance door of the polling station where the voters would be required to deposit their mobile phones.”
The move, the Commission said, aligns with the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961. Rule 49M, which ensures the secrecy of voting, “will continue to be strictly enforced”. However, Returning Officers may exempt certain polling stations from this mobile phone rule “based on adverse local circumstances”.
In another reform, the Commission has revised the permissible distance for canvassing. Electioneering will now be strictly prohibited within a 100-metre radius of polling stations on the day of polling.
“Booths set up by the candidates on poll day for issuing unofficial identity slips to electors… can now be set up just beyond 100 metres of any polling station,” the Commission clarified.
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