By-polls to Gujarat assembly seats on April 23

New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) By-polls to Gujarat's Manavadar and Dhrangadhra Assembly constituencies will be held on April 23 along with voting for state's 26 parliamentary seats, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday.

Manavadar seat in Junagarh district fell vacant last week when the Congress' four-time sitting legislator Jawahar Chavda quit the party and the assembly to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Dhrangadhra's MLA Parshottam Saparia also resigned from the seat and party to follow suit.

Both constituencies would go to polls on April 23, the third phase of the general elections when Gujarat would also vote to elect Members of Parliament for its 26 Lok Sabha constituencies, the Election Commission said in a press note.

The results for the two constituencies would also be declared on May 23, along with general election results.

"After taking into consideration various factors like festivals and electoral rolls, the Commission has decided to hold the bye-elections to these two assembly constituencies following the same schedule as for the relevant parliamentary constituency," it said.

The notification for the bypolls would be issued on March 23 and the last date of nominations would be April 4. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures would be April 8, it said.

"The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-elections in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines," the press note said.