Schedule for Bye-election to 1(one) Parliamentary Constituency of UT of Lakshadweep and 6 (Six) Legislative Assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra– reg.

The Commission has decided to hold bye-election to fill vacancies in 1(one) Parliamentary Constituency of UT of Lakshadweep and 6 (Six) in the following Assembly Constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra-

Sl. No.	Name of State/UT	Parliamentary /Assembly Constituency No. & Name	Reason for vacancy
1.	UT of Lakshadweep	Lakshadweep (ST) PC	Disqualification of Shri Mohammed Faizal P.P.
2.	Arunachal Pradesh	01-Lumla(ST) AC	Death of Shri Jambey Tashi
3.	Jharkhand	23-Ramgarh AC	Disqualification of Smt. Mamta Devi
4.	Tamil Nadu	98-Erode (East) AC	Death of Shri Thiru E. Thirumahan Everaa
5.	West Bengal	60-Sagardighi AC	Death of Shri Subrata Saha
6.	Maharashtra	215-Kasba Peth AC	Death of Smt. Mukta Shailesh Tilak
7.	Maharashtra	205-Chinchwad AC	Death of Shri Laxman Pandurang Jagtap

Schedule for the bye election is as follows:

Schedule for Bye-election for Parliamentary/Assembly Constituency
Poll Events	Schedule
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification	31st January, 2023 (Tuesday)
Last Date of Nominations	7th February, 2023 (Tuesday)
Date for Scrutiny of Nominations	8th February, 2023 (Wednesday)
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures	10th February, 2023 (Friday)
Date of Poll	27^th February, 2023 (Monday)
Date of Counting	2nd March, 2023 (Thursday)
Date before which election shall be completed	4th March, 2023 (Saturday)

ELECTORAL ROLLS

The Electoral Rolls for the aforesaid Assembly Constituencies finally published on 5th January, 2023 with qualifying dates as 01.01.2023 and updated till last date of making nominations will be used for these elections.

ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs) & VVPATs

The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye- elections in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines.

IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS

Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter. However, any of the below mentioned identification documents can also be shown at the polling station:

1. Aadhar Card,
2. MNREGA Job Card,
3. Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office,
4. Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour,
5. Driving License,
6. PAN Card,
7. Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR,
8. Indian Passport,
9. Pension document with photograph,
10. Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies, and
11. Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs.
12. Unique Disability ID (UDID) Card, M/o Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India

MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification as issued vide Commission’ s instruction No. 437/6/1NST/2016-CCS, dated 29th June, 2017 (available on the commission’s website).

INFORMATION REGARDING CRIMINAL ANTECEDENTS

Candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through Television channels on three occasions during the campaign period. A political party that sets up candidates with criminal antecedents is also required to publish information about criminal background of its candidates, both on its website and also in newspapers and Television channels on three occasions.

Commission vide its letter No. 3/4/2019/SDR/Vol. IV dated 16th September, 2020 has directed that the period specified will be decided with three blocks in the following manner, so that electors have sufficient time to know about the background of such candidates:

Within first 4 days of withdrawal.
Between next 5th – 8th days.
From 9th day till the last day of campaign (the second day prior to date of poll)

(Illustration: If the last date for withdrawal is 10th of the month and poll is on 24th of the Month, the first block for publishing of declaration shall be done between 11th and 14th of the Month, second and third blocks shall be between 15th and 18th and 19th and 22nd of that Month, respectively.)

This requirement is in pursuance of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition (C) No. 784 of 2015 (Lok Prahari Vs. Union of India & Others) and Writ Petition (Civil) No. 536 of 2011 (Public Interest Foundation & Ors. Vs. Union of India & Anr.).

This information will also be available on an App titled, ‘know your candidates’.

COVID RELATED ARRANGEMENT DURING BYE-ELECTION

In view of overall improvement in the situation of COVID country wide and in view of withdrawal of restrictive measure under D M Act by NDMA/SDMA, it has been decided to follow the advisories issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India from time to time. During the process of bye election, there should be continued focus on the five-fold strategy, i.e. Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour. The District machinery should effectively monitor COVID situation and enforce the norms of COVID Appropriate Behaviour by prescribing requisite legal/administrative norms.

The Commission has issued COVID guidelines, October, 2022 on 14.10.2022 which are available on the Commission’s website https://eci.gov.in/files/file/14492-covid-guidelines-for-general- electionbye-elections-to-legislative-assemblies-reg/ to be followed during conduct of elections.