New Delhi/Ahmedabad, March 15 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced a by-election to the Umreth Assembly constituency in Gujarat following the death of sitting MLA Govind Parmar earlier this month.

The schedule was announced at a press conference addressed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

According to the Commission, polling for the Umreth seat will be held on April 23, while the counting of votes will take place on May 4.

The election process is scheduled to be completed by May 6.

The vacancy in the constituency arose after the death of Parmar, a two-term MLA of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who represented the Umreth seat in Anand district.

Parmar died on March 6 after a brief illness and was taken to hospital, where he later passed away.

His death led to the Assembly seat being declared vacant.

Parmar had been elected from Umreth in both the 2017 and 2022 state Assembly elections as a BJP candidate.

Earlier in his political career, he served one term as an Independent MLA and had also held the agriculture portfolio in the government led by former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela.

Reacting to the announcement, state BJP chief spokesperson Anil Patel said the party would work to retain the seat.

“Today, the Election Commission announced the by-election to the Umreth Assembly constituency. Unfortunately, BJP MLA and popular leader Govind Parmar left us and the seat became vacant,” he said.

Patel said Parmar had worked tirelessly for the people and consistently raised their issues.

“In the coming by-election, our state and district organisations will work under Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president Jagdish Vishwakarma. We will again win from the seat,” he added.

The Election Commission also announced by-elections to seven other Assembly constituencies across the country.

These include Ponda in Goa, Bagalkot and Davanagere South in Karnataka, Rahuri and Baramati in Maharashtra, Koridang (ST) in Nagaland, and Dharmanagar in Tripura.

Polling for these constituencies, except those in Maharashtra, will take place on April 9, while counting of votes for all eight by-elections will be held on May 4.

–IANS

mys/pgh