PANAJI:
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced that the by-election to the Ponda Assembly constituency in Goa will be held on April 9, while counting of votes will take place on May 4.
The Ponda seat fell vacant following the death of former minister Ravi Naik on October 15 last year, necessitating the by-poll in the constituency.
Following Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Ponda constituency now has 27,927 eligible voters. This marks a notable decline from the 32,157 valid voters recorded during the 2022 Assembly elections.
The by-poll in Ponda will be conducted simultaneously with Assembly by-elections in parts of Gujarat, Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura, as part of the schedule announced by the poll body. With this, the election mode code of conduct has come into force in the constituency. The nomination process will begin from Monday, March 16 while the last date for nomination filing in March 23. The withdrawal of nominations will take place on March 26.
Meanwhile, political activity has already picked up in the constituency. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said the party has shortlisted two potential candidates from the constituency and forwarded their names to the central leadership for final approval.
The announcement of the election schedule is expected to trigger intensified campaigning in Ponda, with major political parties likely to begin finalising candidates and mobilising party workers in the coming days.
