CEO Recommends Gandey Seat By-election Amid Jharkhand Crisis
Jharkhand’s political landscape faces uncertainty as the Election Commission considers by-election for Gandey seat.
RANCHI – The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jharkhand has recommended holding a by-election for the vacant Gandey assembly seat to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
This recommendation follows the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmed on December 31, 2023, which led to the seat’s vacancy.
The Jharkhand Assembly Secretariat officially declared the seat vacant on January 1, 2024.
However, the decision to conduct a by-election is clouded by constitutional ambiguities.
As per constitutional guidelines, by-elections are generally not held for assembly seats that become vacant within one year of the scheduled assembly term ending.
The dilemma arises from the unclear definition of whether the date of government formation or the date of assembly formation is applicable in this context.
While the current government under Chief Minister Hemant Soren was formed on December 29, 2019, the fifth assembly was constituted on January 6, 2020.
This puts the vacant Gandey seat on the borderline of the one-year criterion.
The ECI’s decision will be pivotal in resolving this uncertainty, taking into account the constitutional provisions.
Meanwhile, the ECI’s primary focus remains on preparing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, anticipated to be announced by March 15.
The potential by-election in Gandey is thus set against a backdrop of larger electoral preparations and a politically sensitive climate in Jharkhand.
