Bypolls have been necessitated after the demise of BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak in Kasba Peth and Laxman Jagtap in Chinchwad. The Election Commission of India (ECI) Wednesday announced the dates for the by-polls to Kasba Peth and Chinchwad Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra. The seats had fallen vacant after the deaths of the sitting MLAs. Both the seats had BJP MLAs –Mukta Tilak in Kasba Peth and Laxman Jagtap in Chinchwad.
As per the schedule announced by the ECI, the polling for the seats will take place on February 27. The results will be announced on March 2.
Along with the bye-election in Kasba Peth and Chinchwad, the ECI announced by-polls for one parliamentary constituency in Lakshadweep and one Assembly constituency each in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. The last date for filing of nomination is February 7 and for the withdrawal of nomination is February 10. BJP Kasba Peth MLA Tilak, who was a former Pune mayor, succumbed to cancer on December 22.
Jagtap died after a protracted illness at a private hospital in Baner on January 3. He was 59.
Speculations are rife on ticket allotment by the BJP. Opposition parties are reportedly keen on seeing if the BJP fields family members of the deceased leaders or allots tickets to others. In the case of Kasba Peth constituency, MVA allies Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and the Congress are said to be keen on fighting the bypolls if the BJP fields a candidate from outside the Tilak family.