The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday issued a clarification on its decision of announcing by-elections for three vacancies in Lok Sabha from Karnataka and not announcing any such by-polls to fill five vacant seats in Lok Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.
In a statement, the EC said, "Vacancies from 9-Bellary(ST), 14-Shimoga, and 20-Mandya Parliamentary Constituencies of Karnataka have occurred on 18th May, 18th May and 21st May, 2018 respectively, whereas vacancies from the five parliamentary constituencies from Andhra Pradesh have occurred on June 20, 2018."
The Election Commission further said that Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 mandates the poll panel to fill the casual vacancies in the Houses of Parliament and State Legislatures through by-elections within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy, provided that the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more.
"The term of sixteenth Lok Sabha is upto June 3, 2019. As the vacancies from Karnataka have occurred more than one year before the expiration of the term of House, bye elections in the state are required to be held under Section 151A of R. P. Act 1951 to fill these vacancies within six months from the date of occurrence of vacancies," the statement added.
It further clarified that in the case of vacancies from Andhra Pradesh, there is no need to hold bye elections as the remaining term of the Lok Sabha is less than one year from the date of occurrence of vacancies that is 20th June, 2018.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)