Congress candidate Hardeepak Nishad vs BJP's Yuvraj Singh in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur Assembly bye-election

The Hamirpur Assembly bye-election in Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to take place on Monday (September 23), along with three other seats in Chhattisgarh, Kerala, and Tripura each. The number and name of the assembly Constituency are 228-Hamirpur. The counting of votes will be held on Friday (September 27).

The bye-election was necessitated following the conviction of Ashok Chandel, former BJP MLA from the constituency, in a murder case and his subsequent disqualification from the Assembly. Chandel was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Allahabad High Court in a 22-year-old shootout case in which five members of a family were killed in Hamirpur.

The election will be a four-cornered fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The BJP has fielded Yuvraj Singh, SP has declared Dr Manoj Prajapati, Congress has announced Hardeepak Nishad and BSP has selected Naushad Ali as their respective candidates from the Hamirpur assembly seat.

Nishad`s candidature was announced long ago. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary had said, "Party president Akhilesh Yadav has announced Dr Manoj Prajapati as the party candidate for the Assembly by-elections from Hamirpur seat which was vacant after BJP MLA Ashok Chandel was awarded life sentence in a murder case."

The Election Commission (EC) has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-election in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines. The Model code of conduct is already in effect and is applicable to all candidates, political parties, the state government concerned and the Centre.

The ECI has taken the decision to hold by-polls after taking into consideration various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions etc.