Gandhinagar/Anand, March 29 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed former Gujarat minister Pradipsinh Jadeja as in-charge for the forthcoming by-election to the Umreth Assembly constituency in Anand district, as political activity intensifies ahead of polling scheduled next month.

In a letter issued on Sunday, the party named Jadeja, currently a state special invitee member and former minister in the state government, as the in-charge for the constituency.

Hasmukh Patel, a former president of the Anand District Panchayat, has been appointed co-in-charge.

The appointments come as part of the party’s organisational preparations for the by-election.

The bypoll to the Umreth seat was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA Govind Parmar earlier this month.

The Election Commission has scheduled polling for April 23, with the counting of votes to take place on May 4. The notification for the election is due on March 30, and nominations can be filed until April 6.

Umreth, one of the 182 Assembly constituencies in Gujarat, is an unreserved seat in Anand district and forms part of the Anand Lok Sabha constituency.

The constituency includes areas of Umreth taluka and parts of Anand taluka.

In the 2022 Assembly election, Parmar secured victory for the BJP with a margin exceeding 26,000 votes, underlining the party’s strong presence in the seat.

Meanwhile, the Congress has also initiated its candidate selection process by appointing observers to assess prospective candidates.

According to party leaders, four observers — Natvarsinh Mahida, Chandanji Thakor, Vajirkhan Pathan, and Jagat Shukla — have been tasked with hearing applicants and evaluating their suitability for the contest.

The observers are meeting aspirants in Umreth as part of the screening process, with the exercise being conducted under the direction of the state party leadership.

With over 2.4 lakh registered voters and more than 300 polling stations expected to be set up, administrative preparations for the by-election are already underway in accordance with Election Commission guidelines.

The by-election is expected to see a direct contest between the BJP, Congress, AAP, and NCP (Ajit Pawar), with parties stepping up organisational and candidate selection efforts in the run-up to polling.

--IANS

mys/pgh