Dhumakot Assembly by-election to be held on August 29

New Delhi, July 24 (UNI) By-election for Dhumakot Assembly Constituency of Uttarakhand from where Chief Minister B C Khanduri will be contesting will be held on August 29, the Election Commission said today.

The vacancy arose due to the resignation of sitting member Tejpal Singh Rawat on June 7.

The EC has also decided to simultaneously hold by-elections to fill up two vacancies in the Lok Sabha and three Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

The Lok Sabha constituencies are Jamshedpur in Jharkhand where a vacancy arose due to the death of sitting member Sunil Kumar Mahto on March 4 this year and the other one from Ballia in UP following the death of sitting member and former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar on July 8, 2007.

The three UP Legislative Assembly vacancies are Suar Tanda Assembly Constituency, Gunnaur and Farrukhabad arising out of the resignation of sitting members namely Nawab Kazim Ali Khan on May 23, Mulayam Singh Yadav on May 16 and Vijay Singh June 11, respectively.

The notification for the elections will be issued on August 3, 2007.

The last date of filing nominations has been fixed for August 10.

The scrutiny of nominations will be taken up on August 11.

The last date for withdrawal of the candidature is August 13.

The counting of votes will be taken up on August 31 and the entire election process should be completed by September 3, 2007.

The Commission has decided to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in these by-elections in all the polling stations. Adequate number of EVMs have been made available to the states and all steps have been taken to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly.

The Commission has decided that voter's identification shall be mandatory in the by-elections at the time of poll.

In order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his or her franchise, if a person's name figures in the Electoral Rolls, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll in these by-elections.

The Model Code of Conduct came into force with immediate effect from today, in all the districts in which Parliamentary or Assembly Constituencies are going for by-elections are included.

The Model Code of Conduct shall be applicable to all candidates, political parties and the State Governments. The Code shall also be applicable to the Union Government as far as these States are concerned.

UNI