Chengannur bypoll to be held on May 28

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The bypoll to the Chengannur assembly constituency will be held on May 28, the election commission announced on Thursday.


With the announcement of the bypoll, the model code of conduct (MCC) has come into force in Alappuzha district.




The chief electoral officer of the state election commission, Teeka Ram Meena, said that the counting will be held on May 31.

“We have informed the government that the MCC will be in place in the district. A formal notification will be issued by the Election Commission of India on May 3,” Meena said.

The last date for filing nominations is May 10. Nominations can be withdrawn till May 14.

The constituency has a total of 1, 88, 702 voters, including 228 non-resident Indian voters. Of the total voters, 87, 795 are men and 1, 00, 907 women.

There will be 164 polling stations in the constituency. Meena said the deployment of security forces and details of sensitive booths will be informed later.

He said that the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines will be used in all booths, as it is mandatory.

“The first- and second-level verification of VVPAT machines have been completed,” he said. The chief electoral officer said the voters’ list was published in January. It will be updated and published in another 15days.

The byelection to Chengannur assembly constituency was necessitated by the death of the sitting MLA, K K Ramachandran Nair, of the CPM. The constituency is witnessing a direct fight between Saji Cherian of CPM and D Vijayakumar of the Congress. P SSreedharan Pillai of the BJP is also in the fray. Pillai had contested the polls in 2016.