The results of the Haryana and Maharashtra elections, and the bypolls will be announced on October 24.

Highlights Bypolls in 63 assembly seats, one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar on October 21

In Karnataka, bypolls will be conducted in 15 seats

Elections to be held in Assam first time after release of citizens' list

Bypolls in 63 assembly seats in 17 states and Puducherry, a union territory, and one Lok Sabha seat in Bihar will be held along with state elections in Haryana and Maharashtra on October 21, the Election Commission said today. The votes will be counted on October 24.

The by-elections will be held in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said at a press conference.

"I request the cooperation of all stakeholders in this democratic exercise," he said.

In Karnataka, where resignations of 17 rebel MLAs led to the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy-Congress coalition government in July, bypolls will be held in 15 seats.

These are the first state polls after the BJP's stunning victory in the national election earlier this year, clearing the way for a second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This will also be the first time that elections will be held in Assam after the release of final citizens' list last month. By-elections will be held in four assembly constituencies in the state.

In Bihar, by-elections will be held in four assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat.

The Election Commission also announced the bypoll schedule for 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, five seats each in Kerala and Bihar, four seats each in Gujarat and Punjab, three seats in Sikkim, two seats each in Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha and Puducherry.

The last date to file nomination for bypolls is September 30 and the last date to withdraw the poll nomination is October 3.

During the press conference, Mr Arora appealed to the political parties to avoid plastic, joining PM Modi on the issue. "Election campaigns impose an environmental cost upon us. We appeal to political parties to avoid use of plastic and use only environment-friendly material in their campaigns," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.