Guwahati, 20th July: Anurag Goel, Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, announced on Friday that the final voter list for the upcoming by-elections in five assembly constituencies will be published on August 8.
The by-elections will be held in the Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri constituencies, which have become vacant due to the previous MLAs being elected to the Lok Sabha. Goel outlined the election schedule and noted that preparations for the by-elections are underway, mandated to occur within six months of the Lok Sabha results.
Goel explained that these by-elections will be conducted based on the pre-delimitation status of the constituencies. The recent Lok Sabha elections, which followed a contentious delimitation exercise in Assam, saw criticism from opposition parties who alleged bias towards the ruling BJP.
The Election Department will distribute pre-draft electoral rolls of the pre-delimitation constituencies to recognized political parties on Saturday, with feedback due by July 27. The draft voter lists will be released on July 30, allowing public claims and objections until August 10. Claims and objections will be processed offline due to recent updates. The final voter list will be published on August 20 after processing submissions.
The by-elections will follow the pre-delimitation constituencies as per Election Commission of India rules. The 2023 delimitation exercise, while altering the areas and boundaries of constituencies, did not change the number of Parliamentary or Assembly seats, which remain at 14 and 126 respectively.
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