The Election Commission has announced that biennial elections will be held to replace three Members of Parliament of the Rajya Sabha from Kerala, whose terms are due to end in April. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Abdul Wahab, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader KK Ragesh and Congress's Vayalar Ravi are due to retire on April 21. The EC has decided to hold the biennial election to the council of states from Kerala by completing the election process by April 16. Members of Legislative Assembly elect Rajya Sabha members.
As per the Commission, notifications regarding the polls will be issued on March 24, while the last date of making nominations is March 31. The EC announced that scrutiny of nominations can be done until April 3, and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is April 5. Polling for the three seats will be held on April 12 between 9 am and 4 pm. The counting will also be held on the same day at 5 pm.
The election will be conducted under broad guidelines issued for COVID-19. It is mandatory for every person to wear face masks during every election-related activity. There will be a thermal scanning facility for all persons at the entry hall used for election purposes. Sanitisers shall also be made available at all locations and social distancing is to be followed.
The Chief Secretary of Kerala has been directed to depute a senior officer from the state to ensure that COVID-19 protocol is followed during election-related activities. They will also have to make all necessary arrangements for conducting the biennial election. Further, the Commission has also appointed the Chief Electoral officer, Kerala as the observer for the election.
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