Election Commission likely to announce Gujarat Assembly election schedule today
The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the Gujarat Assembly elections on Thursday. The poll body has called a press conference at noon in New Delhi.
The central government, meanwhile, has sent 160 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to Gujarat, ahead of the polls. Special trains were booked for the easy transportation of the personnel.
Last month, on October 14, the EC had announced elections to the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, which will take place on November 12 in a single-phase followed by counting of votes on December 8. At the time, the EC refrained from announcing dates for Gujarat, with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar saying, “We are following past precedent in keeping the announcement of dates for Gujarat in abeyance for now.”
Announcement of multiple state polls together, the CEC said, leads to longer wait-time for the declaration of results for some.
This is the third time since 1998 that the announcement of Gujarat Assembly elections has been de-linked from that of Himachal Pradesh. Polls were conducted simultaneously in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in 1998, 2007 and 2012, but were held separately in 2002-03, after the Gujarat Assembly was prematurely dissolved soon after the Godhra riots.
The EC normally holds elections together in states where incumbent governments are completing their five-year terms within six months, and announces the poll dates for these states simultaneously.
The term of the 182-member state Assembly ends on February 18, 2023.
If the Gujarat poll dates are announced today, the Model Code of Conduct will come into effect in the state after the official notification for the election is published.
