Uttar Pradesh by-elections on 9 Assembly Seats On November 13: ECI

UP Bypolls: Bypolls on 9 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will take place on November 13 and the counting of votes is scheduled for November 23, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Tuesday. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, bypolls will take place in Assam , Bihar , Chhattisgarh , Gujarat , Karnataka, Kerala , Madhya Pradesh , Maharashtra , Meghalaya , Punjab , Rajasthan , Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. A total of 48 Assembly constituencies and two Parliamentary constituencies will go for polls.

UP By Elections | Complete schedule

• UP bypolls on 9 seats: November 13
• Counting date: November 23

UP bypolls Assembly seats: The Uttar Pradesh bypolls will take place on 9 Assembly seats including Meerapur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Phulpur, and Katehari.

Oppn slams BJP on bypolls 

The Election Commission announced bypolls for nine of the 10 vacant assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, except Milkipur of Ayodhya district.

This has invited sharp reaction from the Opposition, with the Samajwadi Party saying that the BJP was afraid of its defeat in Milkipur due to which it moved the court for "stalling" polls on the assembly seat.

Bypoll to the Milkipur assembly seat was not announced as an election petition is pending in the high court against the candidate who had won the seat earlier.

The assembly seats where bye-elections will be held are Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Kundarki, Phulpur, Sisamau, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Kahir.

Eight of these assembly seats fell vacant after its MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha, while bypoll in Sisamau is being held due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.

In the 2022 assembly polls, Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal, Milkipur and Kundarki were held by the SP, while the BJP had won Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Kahir. The Meerapur seat was held by the RLD.

The SP has raised question over not declaring bypoll to Milkipur seat.

"Whoever has postponed the war, consider that he has lost the war," SP president Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on X in Hindi.

SP spokesperson Anurag Bhadauria said, "When election is being held on nine seats, why it can't be held on the 10th seat -- Milkipur. What report the state government has given to the EC. It should be made clear." Party leader Manoj Yadav said the BJP is afraid of its defeat in Milkipur due to which it has approached court for stalling poll on this seat.

"The BJP has moved the court for stalling Milkipur bypoll. It shows it is afraid of the SP. Our INDIA bloc will win maximum seats in the state," Yadav said.

UP Assembly results 2022 

In the 2022 assembly elections, out of these 10 seats, the BJP had given Majhawan and Katehri to the ally Nishad Party, which won in Majhawan but lost in Katehari.

The Samajwadi Party has already announced the names for six assembly seats, including Karhal (Mainpuri), Sisamau (Kanpur Nagar), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Katehari (Ambedkarnagar), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Majhawan (Mirzapur).

Bypolls to take place in 48 Assembly, 2 Lok Sabha seats  

Bypolls will also be held in 48 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats, the CEC said Bye-elections to 47 assembly seats and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, vacated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi , will be held on November 13.

Bypolls to the Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand and the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra will be held on November 20.

Bypolls to the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal and Milkipur in Uttar Pradesh were not announced as election petitions are pending for the two seats.

Apart from bypolls, the election commission announced Assembly polls schedule for Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

Maharashtra Assembly elections will be held in one single phase on November 20 and Jharkhand in two phases on November 13 and 20. Counting of votes will take place on November 23.

With inputs from PTI