The Commission has reviewed the situations related to pandemic, flood, festivals, cold conditions in certain regions, feedback from concerned States/UT and taken into consideration all facts and circumstances and it has decided to hold bye-elections to fill vacancies in three (3) Parliamentary Constituencies of UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and thirty (30) vacancies in Assembly Constituencies of various States as per details given below:

The Commission has decided to hold these bye-elections to fill vacancies and has fixed the dates of poll events as per provisions under Section 30 and date of withdrawal under Section 30(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The schedule of bye election is as follows:

1. ELECTORAL ROLL

The published Electoral Rolls for the aforesaid Assembly Constituencies w.r.t 01.01.2021 will be used for these elections.

2.  ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs) and VVPATs

The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-election in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines.

3. IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS

Electoral Photo Identity cards (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter. However, any of the below mentioned identification documents can also be shown at the polling station:

1. Aadhar Card,
2. MNREGA Job Card,
3. Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office,
4. Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour,
5. Driving License,
6. PAN Card,
7. Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR,
8. Indian Passport,
9. Pension document with photograph,
10. Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies, and
11. Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs.

4. MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

            The Model code of conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification as issued vide Commission’ s instruction No. 437/6/1NST/2016-CCS, dated 29^th June, 2017 (available on the commission's website).

5. INFORMATION REGARDING CRIMINAL ANTECEDENTS

The Commission has prescribed timeline for publicity of criminal antecedents during the period starting from the day following the last date of withdrawal and upto 48 hours before ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll.

The consolidated instructions on this matter is available on the Commission’s website under the following hyperlink https://eci.gov.in/files/file/12265-broad-guidelines-of-election-commission-of-india-on-publicity-of-criminal-antecedents-by-political-parties-candidates/

     This is in furtherance of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India dated 13.02.2020 and 10.08.2021 in Contempt Petition (C) No. 656 of 2020 titled Brajesh Singh Vs. Sunil Arora & Ors., which has been circulated to political parties vide Commission’s letter dated 26.08.2021. In pursuance of the direction given under Para 73.v of the judgment, now, Format C-7 should be published by the political parties within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate and not prior to two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations.

The Commission has also prescribed following timeline for publicity of criminal antecedents during the period starting from the day following the last date of withdrawal and upto 48 hours before ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll.

The consolidated instructions on this matter is available on the Commission’s website under the following hyperlink https://eci.gov.in/files/file/12265-broad-guidelines-of-election-commission-of-india-on-publicity-of-criminal-antecedents-by-political-parties-candidates/

6. BROAD GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED DURING THE CONDUCT OF BYE-ELECTIONS /ADJOURNED POLL DURING the period of COVID-19

The Commission has issued broad guidelines on 21^st August, 2020. Also, it has issued further guidelines on 09.10.2020, 09.04.2021, 16.04.2021, 21.04.2021, 22.04.2021, 23.04.2021 and 28.04.2021 available on Commission’s website eci.gov.in or link https://eci.gov.in/candidate-political-parties/instructions-on-covid-19/.  Also, vide letter No.40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 28^th August, 2021, instructions for implementation of targeted and prompt actions for COVID management has been extended by MHA up to 30^th September, 2021. After taking inputs from the political parties/Chief Electoral Officers and keeping the extant instructions of MHA/MoHFW in view, the Commission has further strengthened these guidelines. Further, the Commission’s all instructions relating to conduct of General Election in West Bengal during the COVID-19 period shall also be mutatis mutandis applicable for these bye-elections/adjourned poll.

All stake holders shall abide by these instructions. State Government concerned shall take all appropriate actions/measures in compliance to these instructions as follows.

7. All such activities will be strictly complied as per the Covid-19 guidelines issued by competent authorities. Social distancing and use of mask, sanitizers, thermal scanning, face shield, hand gloves, etc., as per COVID-19 protocol, have to be complied with. SDMA is responsible for all preventive and mitigation measures to ensure adherence to COVID protocol. Chief Secretary and DG and district level authorities will be responsible for monitoring, supervision and compliance of covid-19 guidelines.  
8. If a candidate or political party violates any of the above guidelines, no more permission shall be given to the concerned candidate/party for rallies, meetings etc. If any star campaigner violates the COVID protocols, he shall not be allowed to campaign further in that constituency/district.
9. All polling personnel and election officials including the private persons engaged in the election duty shall be double vaccinated before taking their services.
10. Candidate/election agent/polling agent counting agent/driver etc. whoever is coming in contact with the public or election officials have to be double vaccinated.
11. One health worker to be appointed as COVID nodal officer for each Polling Station.
12. CS/DG and concerned DMs/SPs shall take enough preventive measures and make necessary arrangements to ensure that no poll related violence occurs during pre and post poll.  

In the light of advisory issued by the Health Ministry of GoI, ECI will keep a close watch on the evolving situation and may further tighten the guidelines for the upcoming elections.

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RP