BJP urges EC to notify by-election after Deepavali

The Puducherry unit of Bharatiya Janata Party today urged the Election Commission to notify the by-poll for Nellithope Assembly constituency here, which became vacant after former Congress MLA A John Kumar quit his post to pave way for Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, after Deepavali.
President of the local unit of BJP, V Saminathan in a release here said, he had written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, Nasim Zaidi urging him to hold the by- election after Diwali.
In the letter, he has also pointed out that the by-election if held on a day ahead of the Deepavali festival, it would only pave way for flow of gifts from political parties and would be virtually difficult for the law enforcement agencies to monitor the situation and ensure free and fair poll.

The Nellithope assembly seat became vacant after Congress MLA A John Kumar, who was elected from the constituency in May 2016, quit the post on September 15, to enable the Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, who was a non-member of the assembly to contest and become an elected member.
Narayanasamy, who had assumed office on June 6, without being an elected member of the house had to seek election within six months.