Election Commission urged to defer Jharkhand by-poll

The state poll panel in Jharkhand has requested the Election Commission to defer the Lohardaga assembly by-poll till the time panchayat polls end on December 12.

The by-poll is scheduled to take place on November 21. The panchayat polls will be held in Lohardaga between November 22 and December 12.

Shiva Basant, the chief of the state's poll panel, has requested the Election Commission to hold the by-poll after December 12, a source in the election office told IANS.

The assembly seat fell vacant after All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) legislator Kamla Kishore Bhagat was awarded seven years imprisonment in a case related to extortion and attempt to murder.

He lost membership of the assembly after he was convicted by a Ranchi court in July this year.