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The Election Commission on Tuesday announced by-elections on June 12 to Nellore Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) constituency in Andhra Pradesh and 26 Assembly seats spread across nine states, a majority of them in the southern state whose outcome is crucial for ruling Congress.

Announcing the schedule for the by-polls, the commission, after taking into account various factors like, festivals and electoral rolls, decided to issue the notification for the same on May 18, setting the poll process in motion.

While the last date of filing nominations is May 25, the scrutiny is billed for the next day and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is May 28.

The counting of votes will be held on June 15.

Besides Nellore Parliamentary Constituency in southern Indian Andhra Pradesh, the bypolls would also be held in 18 Assembly constituencies, 17 of which are in Rayalseema and coastal Andhra and just one in Telangana.

The 18 assembly constituencies are: Tirupati, Allagadda, Rajampet, Rayachoti, Parkal, Ongole, Narsamapeta, Payakaraopet (SC), Anantapur Urban, Yemmiganur, Rayadurg, Kodur (SC), Udayagiri, Narasapuram, Prathipadu (SC), Ramachandra puram, Macherla and Polavaram (ST) in Andhra Pradesh. Only Parkal is in Telangana region.

Bypolls would also be held for the Assembly constituencies of Maheswar (SC) in Madhya Pradesh, Nalchar (SC) in Tripura, Daspur and Bankura in West Bengal, Mant in Uttar Pradesh, Pudukkottai in Tamil Nadu, Kaij in Maharashtra and Hatia in Jharkhand,

The electoral rolls for these seats where bypolls are being held have been revised with reference to January 1, 2012, as the cut-off date and the same have been published.

The EC has announced a separate schedule for by-elections to fill up two Assembly constituencies of Neyyattinkara in Kerala and Cortalim in Goa where polling will be held on June 2.

The notification for these bypolls would be out on May 9 and the last date for filing of nominations is May 16. The scrutiny is scheduled for the next day and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is May 19. Counting of votes would be held on June 15.

The electoral rolls of Neyyattinkara and Cortalim Assembly constituencies have been revised with reference to January 1, 2012 as the qualifying date and have been published.

The commission has decided to use EVMs in by-elections in all the polling stations and adequate numbers of EVMs have been made available.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Lok Sabha (lower house) constituency or Assembly constituencies going for by-elections is included.