Raipur, November 5: The bypoll to the Bhanupratappur Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh, which fell vacant last month following the death of Congress MLA and Deputy Assembly Speaker Manoj Singh Mandavi, will be held on December 5, poll authorities said on Saturday.

Mandavi (58), who represented Maoist-hit Bhanupratappur in Kanker district for three terms, died on October 16 following a heart attack. A prominent tribal face of the party in north Bastar region, Mandavi had served as minister of state for home and prisons during the Ajit Jogi-led Congress government in the state between 2000 and 2003. Assembly By-Elections 2022: Election Commission Announces Bypoll Schedule for 5 Assembly, 1 Parliamentary Seat Across Five States; Check Polling and Result Dates Here.

With the announcement of the bypoll, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect in Bhanupratappur Assembly segment, which is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Reena Babasaheb Kangale told reporters.

"The gazette notification for the bypoll will be issued on November 10. Filing of nominations will begin on the same day. The last date of filing nominations is November 17, while the scrutiny of nomination forms will be held the next day. Candidates can withdraw their names from the fray till November 21," she said.

Polling will be held on December 5, while counting of votes will take place on December 8, she added.

"There are 1,95,678 voters, comprising 95,186 males, 1,00,491 females and one third gender person. There will be 356 polling stations in the constituency, of which 239 are in rural areas and the remaining 17 are urban ones. All COVID-19 prevention protocols will be followed during the bypoll," Kangale added.

In the 2018 Assembly poll, the Congress had registered a landslide victory winning 68 seats in the 90-member House, while subsequent bypolls took the tally to 71.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which ruled the state for 15 years, currently has 14 MLAs. Meanwhile, state Congress communication wing chief Sushil Anand Shukla said his party would win the bypoll due to the work done by the Bhupesh Baghel government and the popularity that Mandavi enjoyed among the masses.

On the other hand, the opposition BJP's spokesperson Kedar Gupta said people will give a befitting reply to the Congress government for not being able to protect tribal quota, which reduced from 32 per cent to 20 percent following a High Court order, and due to the deteriorating law and order situation. He said the BJP will win the bypoll.

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