EC reschedules UP, Punjab, Kerala bypolls to Nov 20

The Election Commission on Monday rescheduled assembly bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala from November 13 to November 20 in view of festivals, an official statement said.

Photograph: Ritik Jain/ANI Photo

Nine seats are going to polls in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab and one in Kerala.

Parties including the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal had urged the poll body to reschedule the polls in view of various festivals, saying that it could impact voter turnout.

According to the Congress, a significant portion of the electorate in the Palakkad assembly seat in Kerala will celebrate the festival of Kalpathi Rastholsavam from November 13 to 15.

In Punjab, the party had said, the 555th Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated on November 15 and an 'akhand path' will be organised from November 13 onwards.

The BJP, the BSP and the RLD had said that in Uttar Pradesh, people travel for three-four days ahead of Kartik Purnima, which will be celebrated on November 15.