New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday announced two-phase Assembly elections for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in December.
Gujarat will go to polls on December 11 and 16 and Himachal Pradesh on December 14 and 19, said Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy at a press conference in Delhi. The model code of conduct has been enforced in the states.
Gopalaswamy said the Commission has advanced the dates for Himachal polls on account of weather conditions.
In Himachal Pradesh, the snow-bound constituencies of Kinnaur, Bharmour and Lahaul-Spiti will be held before the rest of the state as the mountain passes in these areas usually close down in November 15 due to winter and snowfall and become inaccessible.
The Commission has also completed the electoral roll revision in the two states and electronic voting machines will be used in these elections.
Police forces from adjoining states will be deployed in the two states during elections as per requirement. Officers have who have been part of elections and have spent more than three years in a place will be allowed to function during the polls.
In Gujarat, counting of votes will be taken up on December 23 while in Himachal Pradesh, vote count will be held on December 28.
In the first phase in Gujarat, polls will be held in 87 constituencies and in the second phase in 95. In Himachal, it will be three constituencies in the first phase and 65 in the second.
Filing of nominations in the first phase of polls in Gujarat begins on November 15 and the last date for the purpose is November 22. Scrutiny will be done on November 23 and last date for withdrawal is November 26.
The elections in Gujarat will be the second to be held after the post-Godhra violence of early 2001 and Gopalaswamy gave an assurance that the people belonging to minority community still living in camps will be enabled to exercise their franchise without fear.
(With PTI inputs)
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