By-elections in Gorakhpur, Phulpur Lok Sabha seats on March 11

LUCKNOW: The by-election to Gorakhpur and Phulpur (Allahabad)

Lok Sabha

seats, vacated by chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, respectively, will be held on March 11. The Election Commission of India on Friday announced that the election notification for the two seats will be issued on February 13 and the result will be declared on March 14.

The model code of conduct (MCC) would come into force in the two districts from the date of issue of the notification. The ECI has fixed February 20 as the last date for filing nominations.

The two LS seat were vacated by Yogi and Maurya in September 2017 after they got elected to UP legislative council as mandated. Yogi and Maurya were named CM and deputy CM when BJP stormed to power in UP with an overwhelming majority.

The by-elections to the two constituencies gain immense political significance amid talk of opposition parties to cobble up a front to take on BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Gorakhpur is essentially crucial since it happens to be the home turf of

Adityanath Yogi

and therefore BJP’s performance on the seat will be potentially seen as test of his hold as well as his governance. Same is the case with Phulpur, which was earlier a Congress stronghold, with India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru winning the seat for three successive times — in 1952, 1957 and 1962.

Meanwhile, the EC said that ministers, whether of the Union or state, shall not combine in any manner their official tours with election work after the announcement of byelections. “All and any visit to the district(s) where by-elections are being held and where MCC is, therefore, in force, have to be completely private in nature,” the ECI said, quoting its detailed order issued on June 29, 2017.