Shimla | TNR
The Central Election commission has postponed the by-elections to be held in Himachal’s Mandi parliamentary seat and Vidhan Sabha seats in Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai. Making this announcement on Saturday, the CEC notified that the elections are expected to be held after the festival season.
Earlier, the CEC had sought the state’s opinion on the election from Chief Secretary, Ram Shubag Singh. The Chief Secretary had apprised the CEC of the prevailing situation and had cited the ongoing Covid situation in the state, the onset of the apple season and possibilities of landslides in the rainy season as reasons for suggesting a postponement.
Apart from Himachal, the CEC has also postponed by-elections in 15 other states of the country. These include 3 Lok Sabha seats and 32 assembly seats which are presently lying vacant.
The CEC has only allowed elections to be held in two seats in West Bengal and one in Odisha. The election commission had postponed the by-elections earlier too on May 5.
Seats in Himachal lying vacant
The Fatehpur seat of Kangra has been lying vacant since February following the death of MLA Sujan Singh Pathania. Mandi parliamentary seat has been lying vacant since March 17 after the death of former MP, Ram Swaroop Sharma and Jubbal Kotkhai seat since June 5 after Narendra Bragta passed away and Arki seat has been vacant since the death of Virbhadra Singh on July 8.
