New Delhi, September 27: A day after informing the Supreme Court that it is open to change the dates of Karnataka bypolls of the 15 Assembly seats, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the new date for polling. The Elections will be held on December 5. While the counting of votes and announcement of results will take place on December 9, the poll body said. Bypolls in 15 Karnataka Seats to Decide Fate of BS Yediyurappa-Led Nascent BJP Government.

On Thursday, Election Commission told the apex court that it will differ the by-polls in Karnataka as the hearing of petitions challenging the disqualification of MLAs remains pending. The SC will now hear the matter on October 22. Karnataka Bypolls Deferred by EC Till Supreme Court Decides On 17 Disqualified MLAs, Next Hearing on October 22.

Karnataka Bypolls 2019 Full Schedule:

As per the schedule announced on September 21, the nomination process had started on September 23. EC said that the nomination papers filed before returning officers between September 23 and September 27 (Friday) will also be considered for scrutiny on November 19. As per the previous schedule, the bypoll was to be held on October 21 and counting was to take place on October 24.

The 17 rebel lawmakers, including 14 of the Congress and three of the JD-S were also expelled from their parties for defying their whip to attend the 10-day monsoon session and vote in favour of the confidence motion their former chief minister H.D Kumaraswamy moved on July 18 to prove majority in the House but lost on June 23 in their absence.

(With Inputs from Agencies)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2019 08:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).