The Election Commission on Friday announced bypolls schedule for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The polling for parliamentary seats in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in UP and Araria in Bihar will be held on March 11. Along with these three seats, Bihar's Jehanabad and Bhabua Assembly constituencies will go for bypolls on the same day. The counting of votes will be conducted on March 14. Results will be announced on the same day.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya had resigned as Lok Sabha members in September last year after being elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. Adityanath had resigned from Gorakhpur Parliamentary seat while Maurya vacated Phulpur seat. The bypolls in UP will be a test for Adityanath as the results will be seen as a reflection on his Government's popularity.
The bypoll to the Araria Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, which fell vacant following the demise of RJD MP Mohammed Taslimuddin, will also be held on the same date. The Bihar bypoll has assumed an extra significance as this will be first election after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar jettisoned the Congress and the RJD, and joined hands with the BJP.
The notification for the three by elections will be issued on February 13, beginning the process of filing nomination papers. February 20 is the last date of filing papers to contest the elections. While scrutiny of papers will be held on February 21, candidates can withdraw from electoral battle till February 23. "The votes will be cast on March 11, counting will be held on March 14", the notification said.