The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that the by-election for the Chotila Assembly seat will be held on January 20. A bypoll was necessitated by the death of BJP legislator Vasram Khorani. A source in the state Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) office said that with the announcement,the Model Code of Conduct comes into force immediately in the entire Surendranagar district under which the constituency falls. In the 2007 Assembly elections,the Chotila seat was won by Congress Popatbhai Jinjariya. But it fell vacant after he died early this year. Khorani won this seat when the by-polls to seven Assembly seats in the state were held. Sources said the government,which will organise the official state Republic Day celebrations in Surendranagar,will not be able to announce any popular schemes for the district until the poll process ends on July 24 . As per the by-election schedule released by the EC for the Chotila seat,a notification will be issued on December 26,while the last date for filing nomination papers will be January 2. The poll results will be declared on January 23.
