Imphal, November 20 2009: The Election Commission of India has notified that the by election to the Yaiskul Assembly Constituency will be held on December 19 along with three other Constituencies, one in Andhra Pradesh and two in Tamil Nadu.

By election in Andhra Pradesh will be held for the 248 Pulivendla Assembly Constituency while in Tamil Nadu it will be held for 225 Tiruchendur and 51 Wandiwash (SC).

The by election in 14 Yaiskul Assembly Constituency has been necessitated following the demise of the then sitting Congress MLA Elangbam Kunjakishore while the lone seat in Andhra Pradesh will be held for the seat left vacant by the then Chief Minister, YSR Reddy, who was killed in a copter crash some months back.

The then sitting Congress MLA Elangbam Kunjakishore, popularly known as EK, passed away on September 17 after a prolonged ailment.

As per the notification issued by the Election Commission of India today, the date of issuing the election notification will be November 25 .

The last date of submitting nomination papers has been fixed on December 2 while scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on December 3 .

The last date for withdrawal of candidatures has been fixed on December 5, while the counting of votes will be held on December 23 .

December 31 is the date, which has been fixed for the election to be completed by the Election Commission of India.

The ECI has also notified that the electoral rolls have been revised to January 1, 2009 for Manipur as the qualifying date, as no delimitation has been carried out, unlike Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

In Tamil Nadu, the electoral rolls have been revised and published with reference to January 1, 2009 while in Andhra Pradesh the general election was held in accordance with the delimitation basis with January 1, 2009 as the qualifying date, noted the ECI.

Electronic Voting Machines will be used in all the polling booths for the forthcoming by elections to the four Assembly Constituencies, notified the ECI.

The notification said that adequate number of EVMs have been made available and all steps taken up to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly.

In line with the earlier practices, voters' identifications will be made mandatory, said the ECI notification and added that separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of the by-election.

The Model Code of Conduct will also come into force, noted the ECI.

This is the third time that Manipur will see a by election during the current 9th Assembly.

Earlier, by election was held to the Khundrakpam Assembly Constituency, after its then sitting MLA Thokchom Nabakumar of the NCP passed away in 2007 .

The by election was held on June 2, 2007 and the late MLA's son Thokchom Lokeshore won, albeit on a Congress (I) ticket, boosting the tally of the party in the Assembly.

The second by-election was held on December 27, 2008 after the then sitting Congress MLA of Moirang Assembly Constituency, Mairenbam Manindra passed away.

Like in the Khundrakpam by election, the by-poll in Moirang Assembly Constituency was won by M Prithiviraj, the son of the late MLA.

To many of the keen political watchers of the State, the Yaiskul by-election could be a litmus test for Chief Minister O Ibobi, in the backdrop of the present agitation spearheaded by the Apunba Lup, which has demanded his resignation on moral ground, following the July 23 BT Road incident.

Though the ECI has already announced the election schedules, the Congress and the other political parties, notably the MPP, BJP and NCP are yet to announce the names of their candidates.

The CPI, which is a partner in the SPF Govt has already announced that it would not field a candidate, while on the other hand the Opposition parties have been talking about fielding a common candidate.

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