PIB News Update: There are two casual vacancies in the Council of States from Gujarat. The details of the vacancies are as follows: –
| Sl. No. | Name of Members | Reason | Date of vacancy | Term Up to |
| 1. | Shri Patel Ahmed Mohammad | Death | 25.11.2020 | 18.08.2023 |
| 2. | Shri Abhay Ganpatray Bhardwaj | Death | 01.12.2020 | 21.06.2026 |
2. The Commission has decided to hold two separate bye-elections to the Council of States from Gujarat to fill up the above mentioned vacancies as per the following common schedule: –
| S. No | Events | Dates |
| Issue of Notifications | 11th February, 2021 (Thursday) | |
| Last date of making nominations | 18th February, 2021 (Thursday) | |
| Scrutiny of nominations | 19th February, 2021 (Friday) | |
| Last date for withdrawal of candidatures | 22nd February, 2021 (Monday) | |
| Date of Poll | 01st March, 2021 (Monday) | |
| Hours of Poll | 09:00 am-04:00 pm | |
| Counting of Votes | 01st March, 2021 (Monday) at 05:00 pm | |
| Date before which election shall be completed | 03rd March, 2021 (Wednesday) |
3. Broad Guidelines to be followed during entire election process for all persons: –
I. Every person shall wear face mask during every election related activity
II. At the entry of hall/ room/ premises used for election purposes:
(a) Thermal Scanning of all persons shall be carried out:
(b) Sanitizer shall be made available at all locations
III. Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant COVID-19 guidelines of the State Govt. and Ministry of Home Affairs.
4. The Chief Secretary, Gujarat is being directed to depute a senior officer from the State to ensure that the extant instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the said bye elections.
5. Further, the Commission has also appointed the Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat as Observer for the said elections.