Shillong, May 5: The byelections to Rajabala and Mawryngkneng have been deferred along with bypolls to other parliamentary and assembly constituencies across the country following an Election Commission decision in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Election Commission said elections to the two assembly constituencies in Meghalaya, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh) and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), Kalka and Ellenabad in Haryana, Vallabhnagar in Rajasthan, Sindgi in Karnataka, Fatehpur in Himachal Pradesh and Badvel in Andhra Pradesh have been deferred.
There are few more vacancies of seats for which reports and notifications are awaited and being confirmed.
The two seats in the state fell vacant after legislators David Nongrum (Mawryngkneng) and Azad Zaman (Rajabala) died in February and March, respectively, this year.
As per the provisions of section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the vacancies are required to be filled, through bye-elections within six months from the date of occurrence of vacancy, provided that the remainder of the term in relation to the vacancy is one year or more.
The commission reviewed the matter on Wednesday and concluded that it would not be appropriate to hold bye-elections till the pandemic situation significantly improves.
The commission will take a decision in the matter at an appropriate time after taking inputs from the states and assessing the pandemic situation, the statement said.
