Garhwal bypoll on Feb 24

The bye-election to the Garhwal parliamentary constituency will be held on February 24, according to an announcement by the Election Commission on Thursday. The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri resigned from there in September, following his election to the Assembly from Dhumalkot. The Commission has said the election cannot be held earlier as the work relating to preparation of photo electoral rolls was going on in the state.

8220;The work has now been completed and the electoral rolls are being finally published on January 25. The Commission has, therefore, decided to hold the by-election to fill the vacancy created in the Lok Sabha,8221; it said.

According to the schedule, notification for the bypoll will be issued on January 30. Candidates can file their nomination till February 6 and the same can be withdrawn till February 9. The counting of votes will be held on February 27. The election process will be completed before February 29.

With the announcement of the schedule, the model code has come into force with immediate effect in districts wholly or partly falling under the Garhwal constituency.