New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) The Election Commission of India on Monday issued notifications for holding by-elections on July 30 to fill one vacancy each in the legislative Assemblies of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar, an official said.

The three seats to be filled through the by-elections include: Datia in Madhya Pradesh, Manjalpur in Gujarat and Bankipur in Bihar, the official said.

The results for the by-elections will be declared on August 3, the ECI said.

With the issue of these notifications, the process of filing nominations has commenced for the three Assembly constituencies, the ECI said in a statement, adding that scrutiny of nominations will take place on July 14, with July 16 being the last date for withdrawal of candidatures.

While issuing the notifications on Monday, the ECI issued instructions to the states concerned to ensure compliance with the statutory provisions of paid holiday and dry days in the poll-bound constituencies, said the statement.

The ECI said that as per Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishment and entitled to vote in the by-election shall be granted a paid holiday on the day of poll and no deduction of wages shall be made.

All daily-wage and casual workers are also entitled to a paid holiday on the day of the poll. Any employer who contravenes these provisions shall be liable to a fine, it said.

The Commission clarified that electors, including casual and daily wage workers, who are working or employed in industrial or commercial establishments located outside their constituency but are registered as electors in a constituency going to poll, shall also be entitled to the benefit of paid holiday on the day of poll to enable them to cast their vote.

–IANS

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