Trinamool leaders Meet Chief Election Commissioner, demand early by polls

A delegation of six All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MPs met chief election commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra at the Election Commission of India in Delhi on Thursday and urged him to conduct bypolls to seven assembly seats in West Bengal. The delegation submitted a memorandum to the CEC and the meeting ended on a positive note, said AITC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay.

"We submitted a memorandum before the CEC, and he enquired about the Covid situation in West Bengal. I told him that the Covid positivity rate is below 2% now. Hopefully, after reviewing the situation, he will announce the date," said Bandopadhyay.

AITC chief Mamata Banerjee had lost to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram and if the bypoll is not conducted within six months of declaration of results, then Banerjee will have to step down as CM. A person can occupy a ministerial position only up to six months without getting elected to a state legislature or one of the two Houses of Parliament, according to the Constitution.