Ludhiana West bypoll on June 19, AAP look to retain seat
The Election Commission of India (ECI) Sunday announced that bypoll for the Ludhiana West Assembly constituency in Punjab will be held on June 19. Bypolls to four other Assembly constituencies—two in Gujarat, one each in Kerala and West Bengal—will also be held on the same day.
The Ludhiana West seat had fallen vacant following the death of sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi. Political parties have already announced their candidates for the bypoll, and campaigning has been underway for a while now.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has nominated Rajya Sabha member and industrialist Sanjeev Arora as its candidate. Arora, a native of Ludhiana, is known for his work in social welfare and entrepreneurship.
The Congress has fielded former Punjab minister and two-time MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who is currently serving as working president of the Punjab Congress.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has named senior advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman as its candidate, and he has pledged to bring the seat back to the party.
The ECI announcement sets the formal electoral process in motion to restore representation in the region. It has released a detailed schedule: the gazette notification will be issued on May 26; the last date for filing nominations is June 2, followed by scrutiny on June 3 and withdrawal of candidature by June 5. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 23, and the entire election process will conclude by June 25.
The Kadi and Visavadar seats in Gujarat, Nilambur in Kerala and Kaliganj in West Bengal are the other four Assembly seats going to bypoll on June 19.
To ensure transparency and credibility, the ECI will use updated electoral rolls published on May 5, based on the qualifying date of April 1. Continuous updation will continue until ten days before the nomination deadline. All polling stations will be equipped with electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs).
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into immediate effect in the constituency. Candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publicly disclose their records via newspapers, television, and social media.
To streamline nominations, the ECI has also directed that 'no dues certificates' be issued to candidates who have occupied government accommodation in the past ten years.
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