The Election Commission today announced that by-elections to the Ernakulam (Kerala) and Solapur (Maharashtra) Lok Sabha seats would be held on September 26. The by-elections for the seats would be held along with elections to six Legislative Assembly seats in different states. The elections to Ernakulam seat has been necessitated by the death of sitting member Geoge Eaden and the Sholapur due to the resignation by Sushilkumar Shinde when he became the Maharashtra Chief Minister. Mata’s b’day fest on same day may spell trouble KOCHI: It was an announcement that no one was ready for. The EC’s decision to hold bypoll to Ernakulam Lok Sabha Constituency on Sept 26, when the city would be hosting the 50th birthday celebrations of Mata Amritanandamayi, evoked surprise even among political parties. While the general mood is for advancing or postponing the bypoll by at least a few days, the saffron brigade has shot off letters to the EC urging J.M. Lyngdoh to take an appropriate decision considering the Mata’s birthday fete. ‘‘It has all happened so suddenly,’’ a senior leader said. ‘‘We are apprehensive of rigging as the police would be preoccupied with the Mata’s birthday. In the last election also Ernakulam witnessed a lot of bogus voting,’’ a Congress leader said. (ENS) According to an EC spokesman, the seats where elections for Assembly would held are: Karwan (Andhra Pradesh), Vemagal and Hungund (Karnataka) Laban (Meghalaya) Birmaharajpur (Orissa) and Uttarpura (West Bengal). The EC also announced that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) would be used in all the constituencies. Also the Commission intends to furnish detailed guidelines to the polling officers for allowing voters to use alternative identification documents for identification at the time of voting. The EC said that the moral code of conduct has become applicable to all the districts which fall in these constituencies and it applies to all political parties, state and Central governments. The notification for the polls would be issued on September 1; the first day for filing nominations would be September 8. The nominations would be scrutinised on September 9 and the last day of withdrawl of nominations would be September 11.
