The seat from Uttar Pradesh fell vacant when Congress president Sonia Gandhi resigned following the office of profit controversy. Simultaneously, she had put in her papers as the Chairperson of the National Advisory Committee of the Congress-led UPA government.Announcing the schedule, the EC said that the bypoll for the Deeg Assembly constituency in Rajasthan will be also be held on May 8.
Counting for both the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency and the Deeg Assembly seat will be taken up on May 11.
According to the poll schedule, the notification will be issued on April 13 and the last date for filing nominations is April 20. Scrutiny will take place the following day while the last date for withdrawal is April 24.
An EC release said the Supreme Court has directed that byelections cannot be held till July to the 10 seats which fell vacant in the wake of expulsion of members in the cash for query scam.
In the light of the order of the apex court, the Election Commission has decided to hold the bypoll to the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat and the Deeg Assembly segment in Rajasthan. It said the model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect.
The Supreme Court observed in its order today that the EC's application will be considered in July and that the byelections to the ten Lok Sabha seats should not be held till then.
Our Legal Correspondent adds: The Supreme Court today restrained the Election Commission from going ahead with the byelection to 10 Lok Sabha seats, fallen vacant due to the expulsion of many MPs for their alleged involvement in the cash-for-query scam.
EC counsel wanted the court’s clearance for holding the election to fill the seats, stating that the poll panel was contemplating to issue a notification soon to ensure that the byelections were held with the ongoing Assembly poll in five states, which would come to an end by May 10.
Since the petitions of 10 MPs, who had challenged Parliament’s power to expel them, had been referred to a Constitution Bench, the apex court said the poll panel’s petition would be listed for hearing in the first week of July and “till then it cannot hold the elections”.
When Attorney-General Milon Banerjee, who was issued notice by the court to assist it in the case, and the Union Government counsel also made a strong plea for holding the elections, the court said “Election Commission’s urgency is understandable but it does not understand the urgency of the government.”
