Gandhinagar: A bypoll for Manjalpur assembly constituency will be held on Thursday after the seat fell vacant following the demise of eight-time MLA Yogesh Patel. For nearly two out of every three days since Gujarat elected its first legislative assembly in 1962, the House has functioned without its full sanctioned strength of MLAs, official records show. The reason: not a single assembly in the state’s 64-year electoral history has completed its full term without the death of one or more sitting legislators.Records show that of the 23,536 days since the first assembly election, the house remained below its sanctioned strength for 15,634 days—66.5% of the time—because vacancies caused by the deaths of sitting MLAs awaited byelections or the next general election. The assembly has functioned at full strength for only 7,881 days.The pattern has continued in the ongoing 15th Gujarat legislative assembly, which has witnessed the deaths of three sitting MLAs—Karshanbhai Patel, Govind Parmar and Yogesh Patel. By-polls have been held for two seats, while polling for Manjalpur is scheduled for July 30.Data compiled from official records show that 58 sitting MLAs have died in office across Gujarat’s 15 legislative assemblies since the state was carved out in 1960 and held its first elections in 1962. Each death resulted either in a by-election or, where elections were imminent, the vacancy being filled during the next assembly poll.The first Gujarat assembly, constituted in 1962, had 157 members. The House strength was increased to 168 after the 1967 elections and has remained at 182 seats since the 1975 assembly.The eighth legislative assembly recorded the highest number of deaths of sitting legislators, with nine MLAs passing away during its tenure. The first and fourth assemblies each witnessed the death of just one sitting MLA.The list of legislators who died in office includes three former chief ministers. Balvantrai Mehta was serving as an MLA when the aircraft he was travelling in was shot down by the Pakistani Air Force over Kachchh on Sept 19, 1965. Chimanbhai Patel died of a cardiac arrest on Feb 17, 1994 while serving as the state’s chief minister and an MLA. Former chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary also died while representing Khedbrahma constituency on Aug 15, 2004.Historian Rizwan Kadri said the demise of sitting MLAs is a natural phenomenon as in any other profession or field. “However, it has been observed that several leaders become MLAs at a fairly advanced age, and that could perhaps explain why there is no term that has not witnessed the death of a sitting MLA,” he said.Political commentator Ghanshyam Shah also believes the fact that there has been no assembly term without the death of an incumbent MLA is not a political, but a natural phenomenon. I believe this must be the case with Parliament and assemblies of other states as well,” he said.
