"High command will decide candidate": Congress' VS Joy after EC announces bypolls in Kerala

Malappuram (Kerala) [India], May 25 (ANI): As the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced bye elections to Nilambur Assembly constituency, Malappuram District Congress Committee (DCC) president VS Joy on Sunday said that the candidate will be decided by the party high command.
He said that the naming of the candidate was a mere technicality since the atmosphere in Malappuram district was such that anyone who gets nominated could win.
"The high command will decide the candidate. The candidate is merely a technicality. The atmosphere in Malappuram is such that anyone who becomes the candidate will win," Joy told reporters here.
The Nilambur Assembly constituency falls under the Malappuram district of Kerala, where the bypolls are scheduled to be held on June 19, and votes will be counted on June 23.
In Kerala, the bye election will be held in Nilambur to fill the post of PV Anvar, an LDF-backed MLA who resigned in January this year. He was appointed Convenor of the Kerala unit of Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The Election Commission also announced bye elections in Gujarat, Punjab and West Bengal.
Bye election will be held in Gujarat's constituencies Kadi and Visavadar to fill the posts of Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki who passed away in February this year and the resignation of Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai.
In Punjab, the bye election will be held in Ludhiana West to fill the post of Gurpreet Bassi Gogi after his demise their January. The bypolls will be held in West Bengal's Kaliganj to fill the post of Nasiruddin Ahamed who passed away of a cardiac arrest in February this year.
The last date for making of nominations is June 2, 2025. The date for the scrutiny of nominations is June 3. The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures in June 5.

According to a release issued by the EC, the Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye election in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly with the help of these machines. (ANI)