New Delhi: The by-polls to Puniab's Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat and Kerala's Vengara assembly seat will be held on Wednesday, October 11, 2017. The counting for both the seats will be on Sunday, October 15, 2017.
Announcing the schedule for by-polls for both the seats, the Election Commission's statement said, “There are following clear vacancies in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies which need to be filled.”
It further added: “After taking into consideration various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions etc., the Commission has decided to hold bye-elections to fill these vacancies as per the programme mentioned as under: -
Both Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) will be used in the by-elections at all the polling stations.
"A notification for the Lok Sabha seat will be issued on September 15. The last date for submission of nominations will be September 22," a spokesperson for Punjab Chief Electoral Officer's office here said.
The Gurdaspur seat fell vacant after veteran actor and BJP MP Vinod Khanna passed away in April due to cancer. Currently, the Model Code of Conduct has been enforced in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts.
The Vengara seat fell vacant after Indian Union Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty won the Malappuram Lok Sabha by-poll in April.
