Dates for Vellore LS and Patkura Assembly polls announced

New Delhi, July 05: The Election Commission of India has announced dates for Vellore Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu and Patkura Assembly seat in Odisha.

The election to Vellore Lok Sabha constituency will be held on August 5, the EC said on Thursday.

The election to Vellore Lok Sabha seat was countermanded due to excess use of money power.

Polling for Vellore Lok Sabha seat was scheduled for April 18, along with the other constituencies of Tamil Nadu, but was cancelled on April 16 following the recovery of a huge amount of cash allegedly from an associate of a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader.

The I-T Department had seized Rs. 11.48 crore from the house of an alleged associate of DMK treasurer Duraimurugan, whose son Kathir Anand was the party candidate for Vellore.

Now the notification for Vellore Lok Sabha election will be issued on July 11. The nomination process will begin the same day and the last date for filing papers is July 18. The last date for withdrawing from the electoral battle is July 22 and the counting of votes will be taken up on August 9.

Once the results are announced, the Lok Sabha will have its full strength of 543 elected members.

In 2014, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate B. Senguttuvan had won the seat by defeating his nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate A. C. Shanmugam by a margin of 59393 votes. Indian Union Muslim League won the seat in 2009 and 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Election to Patkura assembly was postponed there twice -- first in the wake of demise of the Biju Janata Dal candidate and later due to cyclone Fani.

The election to the seat was first scheduled to be held on April 29. However, it was postponed following the death of BJD candidate Bed Prakash Agarwal on April 20.

Later the polling scheduled on May 19 was also cancelled due to cyclone Fani.

Patruka will now go to polls on July 20 and the counting of votes will be conducted on July 24, said EC.

Patruka is the stronghold of the ruling BJD. Late Bed Prakash Agarwal had won the seat twice for the party in 2009 and 2014. BJD candidate Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak had won the seat in 2004.

In both the elections, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) will be used in all the polling stations.