By-polls may be held in August: CEO

Chief Electoral Officer Banwar Lal on Wednesday said that by-elections for 18 assembly seats and one Parliament constituency might be held in the month of August and not in May as being speculated. However, he said that the Commission would finalise the dates for by-elections soon. 

Talking to media persons during his visit to Chittoor distrit, Bhanwarlal said that the by-elections would be held for simultaneously for 18 Assembly segments including the Tirupati Assembly constituency vacated by K Chiranjeevi following his elevation to the Rajya Sabha and Nellore Parliamentary segment. He said that the by-election report of Tirupati has been sent to Election Commission.

The Ceo also said that the Election Commission of India was seriously considering taking action on betting conducted on the results of recently held by-elections in the State. He said that the Commission would initiate serious action against the persons involved in betting racket on election results as hundreds of crores of rupees changed hands in the deals.