Assembly bypolls to 5 seats in four states on June 19: EC

While two assembly bypolls will be held in Gujarat, one each will take place in Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab. The counting of votes will take place on June 23, the poll authority said.

New Delhi: Bypolls to five Assembly seats, including one each in West Bengal and Kerala where state elections are due next April-May, will be held on June 19, the Election Commission announced on Sunday. The counting of votes will take place on June 23.

Two seats -- Kadi and Visavadar -- in Gujarat, Ludhiana West in Punjab, Nilambur in Kerala and Kaliganj in West Bengal are the seats where bypolls will be held.

The bypolls in Nilambur were necessitated after sitting MLA PV Anvar, an independent who won with Left backing, resigned, while Kaliganj saw the death of Trinamool Congress MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed.

The Kadi seat is witnessing the bypoll following the death of BJP MLA Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki, while in Visavadar, AAP MLA Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai quit to join the ruling BJP. AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi's death led to bypolls in Punjab's Ludhiana West.

The bypolls in Kerala and West Bengal would be keenly watched as Assembly elections are just a year away.

In Kerala, the CPI(M)-led LDF would be keen to retain the seat, which it had helped Anwar win while Congress would be keen to win it to boost its morale ahead of the Assembly polls.

Anwar, who joined Trinamool Congress after coming out of the LDF attacking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has said that he would not contest the polls and would support a Congress candidate. The CPI(M) on its own had not won the seat and experimented with a Left-backed independent to wrest the seat last time.

Another keen contest will be in Punjab's Ludhiana West, where AAP has already announced its candidate, Sanjeev Arora, its Rajya Sabha MP, leading to speculation that Arvind Kejriwal may take his seat in the Upper House if the party wins the bypoll. Congress has announced the name of former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, while the Shiromani Akali Dal has nominated Parupkar Singh Ghuman. BJP is yet to name the candidate for Punjab bypolls.

Also, a defeat in Punjab would further diminish the sagging morale of party workers in the state after the Delhi poll rout. Similarly in Gujarat also, AAP would want a victory in Visavadar after its MLA crossed over, especially against the backdrop of plans to reorganise the party in the state. Both seats in the state will witness a three-cornered contest.

Trinamool Congress too would be looking at a morale-boosting victory in Kaliganj. The bypolls also would see a glimpse of how I.N.D.I.A. bloc shapes up in the state.