The Election Commission of India has announced that by-elections for vacant Lok Sabha and assembly seats in Kerala will be held on November 13, with results expected on November 23.
This comes alongside the election schedule for Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
A key by-election will take place in Wayanad, following Rahul Gandhi’s decision to vacate the seat after winning both Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Wayanad in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He has chosen to retain Rae Bareli, making way for a new contest in Wayanad, where indications suggest Priyanka Gandhi could be the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate.
The need for by-elections also arose in the Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies after two sitting MLAs, Shafi Parambil of Congress and K. Radhakrishnan of the CPM, were elected to the Vadakara and Alathur Lok Sabha seats, respectively.