The Election Commision of India is yet unclear about the Anantnag byelection after it canceled the previous date last year due to violence.
The Loksabha seat of Anantnag is unlikely to see a byelection date due to the continued violence in the region. The seat is vacant since PDP’s Mehboba Mufti resigned as MP and took over as Chief Minister.
The Commission had planned to hold the reelections immediately after the panchayat polls in the State that were earlier scheduled between February and March, said a senior official.
However, with the continuous postponing of the panchayat election by the state government there is also a question mark over the Anantnag bypoll.
According to the official related to EC, “When the State government announced the panchayat polls, we were hopeful that immediately thereafter the Anantnag bypolls could also be held. But then, they had to defer the panchayat polls for security reasons. The Commission is now reviewing the ground situation periodically to take a call on the issue.”
In the history of Indian democracy, it is the first time that a Lok Sabha seat has been vacant for 22 months. Earlier in 1991, the EC could not hold elections to any Lok Sabha seat in the State due to stepped-up militancy.
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