The Madras high court on Monday extended the stay on five Tamil Nadu assembly seats that were supposed to go to bypolls, including a seat that was won by chief minister C Jopseph Vijay.
It rejected the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government’s plea to vacate the stay. The court has extended the interim stay on notifying the bypolls till September 8.
The Election Commission of India informed the high court that it will not notify bypolls for five Assembly constituencies until pending election petitions are decided, according to news agency ANI.
In another petition, DMK president and former Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin on Monday filed an election petition in the Madras High Court, challenging the election victory of TVK candidate VS Babu from the Kolathur Assembly constituency. The ECI’s submission that it has no plan to announce the bypolls till the election cases are over was opposed by the Tamil Nadu government. The state government has sought an early hearing of the case.
