Mumbai, March 15 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday that all efforts would be made to ensure that the by-elections for the Baramati and Rahuri assembly seats are held unopposed through consensus, but asserted that the BJP is ready if it comes down to a contest.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar announced during the day that the by-elections for Baramati in Pune and Rahuri in Ahilyanagar, necessitated by the deaths of former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and BJP legislator Shivaji Kardile, respectively, will be held on April 23.
Addressing a press conference for the announcement of the poll schedule, Kumar said that votes will be counted on May 4.
Speaking to reporters before the announcement by the Election Commission of India, Fadnavis said, "All attempts will be made to arrive at a unanimous decision so that elections are held unopposed. However, if an election is imposed on us (BJP-led Mahayuti), we are prepared for a contest as well."
While NCP stalwart Ajit Pawar (66) was killed in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28 this year, Kardile died of a cardiac arrest on October 17 last year at the age of 66.
By-elections are scheduled for eight assembly seats across the country. While five seats in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura will go to polls on April 9, the date is April 23 for one seat in Gujarat and two (Baramati and Rahuri) in Maharashtra.
The other six seats are Ponda in Goa, Bagalkot and Davnagere South in Karnataka, Koridang in Nagaland, Dharmanagar in Tripura and Umreth in Gujarat.
The notification for the bye elections in Maharashtra will be issued on March 30. The last date for filing nominations is April 6, while scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 7. Candidates can withdraw their nominations till April 9.
Voting will be conducted using Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail systems at all polling stations.
With the announcement of the poll schedule, the Model Code of Conduct, a set of guidelines that govern the conduct of political parties and candidates in the run-up to an election, has come into immediate effect in both constituencies.