Shillong, Sept 21: Election Commission of India on Saturday announce the date for  by-poll to the Shella assembly constituency on October 21.

The counting of votes will be held on October 23.

Date of issue of Gazette Notification  September 23.

The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on October 1 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is October 3.

The by-poll was necessitated after the sudden demise of Assembly Speaker and United Democratic Party (UDP) chief Dr Donkupar Roy.

It may be mentioned that Dr Roy won the Shella seat for seven consecutive terms before he died of illness on July 28 this year.

The UDP has decided to field Dr Roy’s son, Balajied Synrem for the by-poll. Other parties are yet to decide on their candidates.