Darjeeling Assembly by-poll on May 19, vote counting along with LS seat: EC

The by-poll to Darjeeling Assembly constituency will be held on May 19 and its votes will be counted along with those of the Lok Sabha seat, the Election Commission said.

The Assembly seat fell vacant after the sitting MLA Amar Singh Rai of the Trinamool Congress resigned following his nomination by the party to contest from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency.

Polling for the Darjeeling parliamentary constituency was held on April 18 in the second phase.

The Election Commission on Friday night said the notification for the by-poll will be issued on April 22. The last day for filing nomination will be April 29 and the last date of withdrawal of candidatures will be April May 2.

The by-poll to the Assembly seat in north Bengal will be held on May 19 when the last phase of Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in the southern part of the state.

"After taking into consideration various factors like, festival, electoral rolls, etc., the Commission has decided to hold the by-election to fill this vacancy," the EC said in a statement.

EVMs and VVPATs will be used in the by-election in the by-poll.