Announcement of date of poll and counting of votes for deferred bye-election to the Nizamabad Local Authorities’ constituency of Telangana
The Election Commission of India, vide Press Note No. ECI/PN/30/2020, dated05.03.2020 announced bye-election to the Telangana Legislative Council from Nizamabad Local Authorities’ constituency to fill the vacancy caused due to disqualification of the sitting member R. Bhoopathi Reddy, which was notified vide Notification No.100/TL-LC/08/2019-LAC, dated 12.03.2020. After the last date of withdrawal on 23.03.2020, the list of contesting candidates in Form 7B was published with 03 candidates in fray. The election was to be conducted on 07.04.2020 (Tuesday)and the date before which election was to be completed as earlier announced by the Commission was 13.04.2020 (Monday) as per the notification dated 12.03.2020.
2. Considering the unforeseen situation of public health emergency due to COVID-19 and the guidelines & orders passed under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 by the competent authority, the Election Commission, under Article 324 of Constitution of India read with Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, vide its Notification dated 24.03.2020 extended the period of election by 60 days, which was further extended by 45 days and to a later date vide Notification dated 22.05.2020 and 06.07.2020 respectively.
3. It was also specified that the list of activities already carried out under the Notification dated 12.03.2020 was to remain valid for the purpose of remaining activities as was prescribed under the said notification.
4. The Commission, having considered the inputs received from the Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana has now decided that above mentioned bye-election to the Nizamabad Local Authorities’ constituency of Telangana be held in accordance with the following programme:-
| Events | Date |
| Date of Poll | 9thOctober, 2020 (Friday) |
| Hours of Poll | 09:00 am to 05:00 pm |
| Counting of Votes | 12thOctober, 2020 (Monday) |
| Date before which election shall be completed | 14th October, 2020 (Wednesday) |
5. The Model Code of Conduct concerning this election will come into force with immediate effect in the constituency. Please see the details in Commission’s website under the link:
https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4070-biennial-bye-elections-to-the-legislative-councils-from-council-constituencies-by-graduates%E2%80%99-and-teachers%E2%80%99-and-local-authorities%E2%80%99-constituencies-%E2%80%93-mcc-instructions-%E2%80%93-regarding/
6. Broad Guidelines to be followed during entire election processes for all persons:-
I. Every person shall wear face mask during every election related activity
II. At the entry of hall/ room/ premises used for election purposes:
(a) Thermal Scanning of all persons shall be carried out:
(b) Sanitizer shall be made available at all locations
III. Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant COVID-19 guidelines of the State Govt. and Ministry of Home Affairs.
IV. As far as practicable, large halls should be identified and utilized to ensure social distancing norms.
V. Adequate number of vehicles shall be mobilized for movement of polling personnel, security personnel to ensure compliance of COVID-19 guidelines.
7. For broad guidelines to be followed strictly during the conduct of election during Covid-19, please refer to the guideline available on Commission’s website under link:- https://eci.gov.in/files/file/12167-broad-guidelines-for-conduct-of-general-electionbye-election-during-covid-19/