Raipur, Mar 12 (PTI) The by-election for the Khairagarh Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district will take place on April 12, an official said on Saturday.
The Assembly seat fell vacant in November last year following the death of JCC (J) MLA Devvrat Singh (52), who had represented Khairagarh four times.
The model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect in the Khairagarh Assembly segment in Rajnandgaon district, the state’s additional chief electoral officer (ACEO) Shikha Rajput Tiwari told reporters.
A gazette notification for the bypoll will be issued on March 17, and filing of nominations will begin on the same day, she said.
The last date of filing nominations is March 24, while the scrutiny of nomination forms will be done the next day. Candidates have time till March 28 to withdraw their names from the fray, she said.
Polling will be held on April 12 and counting of votes will take place on April 16, she added.
There are 2,11,540 voters, including 1,06,290 male and 1,05,250 female, in the constituency, the official said.
At least 291 polling stations will be set up in the constituency, of which 54 have been recognised as hyper sensitive, 86 as politically sensitive and 10 as sensitive booths, she said.
The COVID-19 protocols will be followed during the by-election, the official added.
The Congress had registered a landslide victory in the 2018 Assembly polls, winning 68 seats out of 90 in the state, while the BJP had won 15 and the JCC (J) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) coalition bagged five and twice seats respectively.
Later, the ruling Congress managed to win by-elections at Chitrakoot and Dantewada seats in 2019 and the bypoll for Marwahi seat in 2020, taking its tally to 70 in the Assembly, while the BJP was reduced to 14.
The current strength of JCC (J) and BSP in the state Assembly is three and two respectively. PTI TKP ARU ARU
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