Patna, Oct 15 (IANS): The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced that by-elections to four Assembly constituencies of Bihar - Belaganj, Imamganj, Tarari, and Ramgarh - will be held on November 13.

According to an official letter from poll panel's Secretary Sanjeev Kumar Prasad, the counting of votes will be held on November 23.

The election process will officially begin with the issuance of a gazette notification on October 18, allowing candidates to start filing their nominations.

The last date for filing nominations was October 25, while the scrutiny will be completed by October 28. The last date for withdrawing nomination is October 30.

This schedule provides a clear timeline for the by-elections in these four crucial constituencies in Bihar.

The by-elections for the four vacant Assembly seats are crucial as three of these constituencies were previously held by leaders from the Grand Alliance, a coalition of parties led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left Parties allied groups.

Belaganj Assembly seat in Gaya District fell vacant after RJD leader Surendra Prasad Yadav, who won the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Jehanabad parliamentary seat, resigned from his MLA post.

Ramgarh Assembly seat in Kaimur District was previously held by Sudhakar Singh. He is also from RJD and resigned after winning the Buxar Lok Sabha seat.

Tarari Assembly constituency in Bhojpur District was won by Sudama Prasad in 2020 as part of the Grand Alliance. He is a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [CPI-ML] and vacated his seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Arrah parliamentary constituency.

Imamganj Assembly constituency comes under Gaya District and former Chief Minister and patron of Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS), Jitan Ram Manjhi, resigned as MLA after winning the Lok Sabha seat from Gaya (reserved).