Patna June 10 (IANS): The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday issued a notification for holding Assembly bypolls in 13 seats across the country, including at Rupauli in Bihar's Purnea district, on July 10.

The by-election in Rupauli was necessitated after sitting MLA Bima Bharti of the JD-U resigned from her post on March 24 and joined the RJD.

Bharti also contested the Lok Sabha elections from Purnea on an RJD ticket but finished third behind Independent candidate Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, and Santosh Kushwaha of the JD-U who finished second.

The gazette notification for filing nominations for the bypoll will be issued on June 14, while the last date for filing nominations is June 21.

The nominees can withdraw their candidatures by June 26.

The polling will be held on July 10 and the results will be announced on July 13.

The other 12 Assembly seats that will go for bypoll on July 10 are Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Maniktala (West Bengal), Vikravandi (Tamil Nadu), Amarwara (Madhya Pradesh), Badrinath and Manglaur (Uttarakhand), Jalandhar West (Punjab), and Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh).