Gujarat votes on 13 and 17 Dec, HP on 4 Nov; results on 20 Dec
Assembly elections will be held in two phases in Gujarat in December, while Himachal Pradesh will vote for a new government in November.
The issue of notification for the first phase of polls in Gujarat is 17 November, while it is 23 November for the second phase. The last date of nomination is 24 November for the first phase, while for the second phase 30 November. The scrutiny of nomination for the 1st phase is 26 December while for the second phase is 1 December.
Polls in the western state will be held on 13 December for first phase and 17 December for second phase.
For Himachal Pradesh the last date for nominations is 17 October and scrutiny of nominations will be done by 18 October. The polls are to be held on 4 November.
The counting for both states will be conducted on 20 December.
The Commission finalised the schedule for the assembly polls in the two states in its full meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and attended by Election Commissioners HS Brahma and Nasim Zaidi and other officials in New Delhi this morning, EC sources said.
The election dates were finalised keeping in mind the festivals of Navratras and Diwali, and the winter season in Himachal Pradesh.
“As of now model code of conduct comes into operation and shall be enforced strictly,” Chief Election Commissioner Sampath said while announcing the poll dates.
Chief Election Commissioner, VS Sampath. Image courtesy PIB
Issuing a stern warning on conducting a clean election, Sampath said, “No officer against whom charges have been framed in a court of law will be entrusted with election work.”
“Commission expects highest standards of impartialty and neutrality among officials involved,” Sampath said.
All police officers connected with election work shall not be allowed to continue in home districts during this period, the CEC said.
No official against whom Commission has recommended disciplinary action in previous election can be entrusted with any election work, he said.
The Commission already held consultations with the home ministry for deployment of Central security forces during the elections, and with revenue officials for checking the misuse of money power.
More than 35,000 personnel from Central paramilitary forces and around 55,000 from state police are likely to be deployed for the Gujarat polls.
Around 9,000 personnel from paramilitary forces and 14,000 from state police are likely to be deployed for Himachal Pradesh elections.
Fearing use of money power in Gujarat, the Commission is engaged in identifying the number of “expenditure sensitive” constituencies in Gujarat.
We called a meeting of political representatives in Delhi and had a one day workshop on expenditure monitoring. District Magistrates will call for meetings with candidates to brief them on all new instructions of the commission, Sampath said.
“Candidates will be required to open separate bank accounts and incur expenditure only from that one account,” the CEC said.
Election rolls will be prepared with 1 January, 2012 as qualifying date, but for those left out, the commission will conduct one special summary revision in these two states. Voter slips will also be handed out.
“As is standard practice Commission will appoint general observers and external observers,” the CEC said.
The election commission has also said that it will closely be monitoring media in the two states as well for paid news.
“It is a new experience for us as well,” he said, adding that there would be district and state level committees monitoring media for paid news.
Elections in the two states have to be held by January next as the terms of the current assemblies of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh end on 17 and 10 January,2013 respectively.
While Gujarat has 182 assembly constituencies, 13 of which are reserved for SCs and 26 for STs, Himachal Pradesh has 68 assembly seats, with 17 reserved for SCs and 3 for STs.
The candidates will have to open new bank accounts for election expenditure and have to submit a single affidavit giving details of criminal and assets.
Himachal Pradesh will have 7,252 polling stations which is a 16 percent rise since last time. Gujarat will also see an increase in number of polling stations.
Courtesy Election Commission of India
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