Gujarat assembly elections to be held in 2 phases on December 9, 14
New Delhi : The Gujarat assembly polls will be held on December 9 and 14 and its outcome will be known on December 18, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday.
Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti on Wednesday announced the schedule for the two-phase Gujarat polls.
In phase 1, 89 seats will go to polls, whereas voting for rest 93 seats will be held in the second phase. The counting of votes will be held on December 18, he revealed.
The term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on January 23, 2018.
Here are key Gujarat election dates at a glance:
#Issue of notification for phase 1: November 14
#Phase 1 polls in 19 districts and 89 setas: December 9
#Phase 2 polls in 14 districts and 93 seats: December 14
#Counting of votes: December 18
#End of Gujarat Assembly term: January 23
Poll highlights
The Election Commission will conduct GIS-based real-time monitoring of election activities through webcasting in critical polling stations.
The commission has also developed a grievance redressal system, which allows the common man to submit complains through a mobile app.
A total of 50,128 polling stations will be set up for 4.33 crore voters in the state. The CEC said that all electronic voting machines will be attached with VVPATs, ie, the machines will give an acknowledgement slip after the vote is cast.
The commission has set up at least 102 all-women polling stations for Gujarat elections this year.
The controversy over election announcement
The Election Commission has been under the ire of the opposition parties led by Congress over delay in announcement of election dates for Gujarat.
While the election body contended that the dates announcement was delayed due to floods in the state, Congress alleged that the commission was giving time to the BJP government in the State and at the Centre to sidestep the provisions of the model code and offer sops to the electorate to swing votes in favour of the BJP.
The allegations came to fore after the EC announced the dates for Himachal Pradesh elections (Nov 9) on October 12, a fortnight before the Gujarat dates.
