CEC announces schedule for Himachal Pradesh, but not for Gujarat.
The Election Commission on Thursday announced election schedule for Himachal Pradesh state election. Himachal will be voting on 9th November. The election results will be declared on 18th December. VVPAT will be used in all polling booths said CEC AK Jyoti.
The notification for polling will be issued on 16th October and final date of filing nomination is on 23rd October. With announcement of dates, model code of conduct has been enforced in Himachal Pradesh.
EC didn't announce the dates for Gujarat elections but said that polling process in the state will take place before 18th December. CEC Jyoti said that schedule for Gujarat elections will be announced soon, and model code of conduct will be enforced after that. Explaining rationale for not announcement of Gujarat dates, EC said Model Code of Conduct can't be enforced for a very long time, and it can't be 83 days. MCC have to be for 46 days said Election Commission. AK Jyoti said that Gujarat government also requested that announcement of dates is delayed as rehabilitation and relief work post floods in July is currently going on. CEC said that they had only visited Gujarat couple of days back and the schedule will be chalked up after getting feedbacks from all stakeholders.
There are 7521 polling booths in Himachal Pradesh. As far as practical, polling stations are being made disabled-friendly, so that they can exercise their franchise. EC said that voter assembly booths will be set up in all centres. VVPAT machines will also be there along with EVMs. Height of voting compartments are being increased to enhance secrecy of voting. There will be 136 special all-women managed polling centres in Himachal Pradesh, two in each constituencies. All critical events will be video-graphed, said Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti. CRPF will be deployed for area domination, route marches in vulnerable areas. Bulk SMSes & voice messages on phone shall also be in purview of election advertisements, said CEC. EC explained that voting process has to be completed in November in Himachal Pradesh, as there is problem of snowing in three districts of the state.
There will be micro-observers to check the polling process and will be in touch with general observers. Braille photo voter slips will be provided for visually-challenged voters.
EC said that they are committed to use VVPAT during 2019 general elections.
While the term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on January 22, the term of the 68-member HP Assembly ends on January 7. BJP is currently in power in Gujarat, while Congress rules Himachal Pradesh. Political experts believe, along with local factors, voting preference may be influenced by Central government's big-ticket steps like GST and demonetization.
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