A helicopter with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and additional Chief Election Officer of Uttarakhand Vijay Kumar Jogdande on board made an emergency landing in the state’s Pithoragarh district today. All passengers of the helicopter are safe, reported news agency ANI quoting the Uttarakhand Government.

On Tuesday, Mr Kumar announced bypoll to the Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand. The Kedarnath seat, located in Rudraprayag district, is part of the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency, currently held by the BJP.

The seat fell vacant following the death of MLA Shaila Rawat in July. Rawat won the seat on a BJP ticket in the 2022 assembly polls. She had represented the seat in 2012 also as a Congress MLA. She lost in 2017 but regained it in 2022.

Mr Jogdande said the notification for the bypoll will be issued on October 22, with October 29 as the last date for filing nominations. Counting will be held on November 23, he said.

The Election Commissioners yesterday announced the bypolls to 47 assembly seats and Wayanad Lok Sabha seats will be held on November 13. Bypolls for the Kedarnath assembly seat and Nanded Lok Sabha seat will be held on November 20.

The Election Commission also announced the election dates for Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Maharashtra will vote in one phase on November 20 while Jharkhand will go to polls in two phases on November 13 and 20. The counting of votes for both states will be on November 23.