Anand, April 6 (AHN) Congress candidate Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan on Monday filed his nomination for the Umreth Assembly by-election in the presence of senior party leader Bharatsinh Solanki, marking the party’s formal entry into the contest for the Anand district seat.

Chauhan, who was recently announced as the party’s nominee, submitted his papers as the campaign for the April 23 bypoll gathers pace.

He is an experienced organisational figure within the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee and has previously served as president of the Umreth taluka panchayat.

The by-election to the Umreth constituency was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA Govind Parmar, a four-term legislator, last month.

The seat, located in Anand district, is one of the 182 constituencies in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly and forms part of the Anand Lok Sabha segment.

Polling is scheduled to take place on April 23, with counting of votes set for May 4, according to the Election Commission’s announced timetable.

The constituency has over 2.4 lakh registered voters, and polling will be conducted across more than 300 booths using electronic voting machines with VVPAT systems.

Chauhan’s candidature sets up a direct contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has fielded Harshad Parmar, son of the late MLA Govind Parmar.

Earlier, the BJP candidate also filed his nomination papers in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

Multiple nomination forms were submitted as part of the process before the deadline.

Harshad Parmar, currently associated with local governance as a sarpanch and taluka-level office-bearer, is being positioned by the BJP as a candidate with grassroots connect, while also carrying forward his father’s political legacy.

Election authorities have set April 7 for scrutiny of nomination papers and April 9 as the last date for withdrawal of candidature, with voter awareness activities underway across villages in the constituency to encourage participation.