Lok Sabha Elections 2024: With the demise of BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad Lok Sabha, Kunwar Sarvesh Singh on April 20, a day after polling in the constituency, questions may arise in your mind about what the Election Commission would do now. Will re-polling take place on the seat? What route will the ECI take? We attempt to answer all such queries in this article.
The voting in the first phase of elections took place on April 19 on 102 seats across 21 states and UTs, including Moradabad.
How did Sarvesh Singh die?
Just a day after the polling, BJP candidate from the seat Kunwar Sarvesh Singh passed away at 71 after a prolonged illness. Singh died at AIIMS in Delhi at around 6.30 pm. Even when the BJP gave him ticket, he was admitted to a hospital. Sarvesh Singh became MP from Moradabad by winning the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Before this, he had been MLA 4 times from Thakurdwara assembly seat of Uttar Pradesh.
Will there be polling again?
According to the rules of the Election Commission, if the voting process has been completed on a seat and after that the candidate dies, then the results of the election will be awaited. If the other candidate wins after the counting of votes, there will be no need for re-election. However, if Kunwar Sarvesh Singh wins the election on June 4, the day of counting of votes, then this election will be cancelled. There will be a need for re-voting or by-election on this seat as the elected candidate would not be present to represent the constituency. Under Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, elections will have to be held on this seat within 6 months.
What if a candidate dies before voting?
If a candidate dies before voting on a seat and if the date for nomination and withdrawal of nomination ends, then the election on the concerned seat is cancelled. For example, in the Rajasthan Assembly elections 2023, Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Kunnar from Karanpur seat of Sriganganagar had passed away. His nomination had been filed. In such a situation, elections were held on this seat on a new date.
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