Gujarat Assembly poll: EC explains why it didn’t announce dates

The Election Commission (EC) was expected to announce the date for the Gujarat Assembly election on Friday (October 14) but it chose to declare the poll schedule only for Himachal Pradesh.

According to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, the EC was following the “convention” while announcing the schedule for elections.

Elections to the Himachal Pradesh Assembly will be held on November 12 and the counting of votes will be on December 8, Kumar told a press conference in Delhi.

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Over 55 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for 68 Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh, Kumar said.

The EC did not announce the elections for the Gujarat Assembly, the term of which ends on February 18, 2023. The term of Himachal ends in January 2023.

The CEC said the EC was following past precedence in keeping the announcement in abeyance for Gujarat Assembly.

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“There is a gap of 40 days between the end of the Assemblies of the two states. According to the rules, it should be at least 30 days so that one result doesn’t impact the other,” Kumar explained when asked about Gujarat Assembly poll dates, according to an NDTV report.

“There are a number of factors, like the weather. We want to hold the Himachal elections before the onset of snow,” he said and added that the EC had held consultations with “various stakeholders”.

In 2017, results for both Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assemblies were announced on the same day but the poll dates were announced separately.

Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls, the ruling BJP and AAP have been involved in a war of words. The AAP has already started campaigning aggressively in the state.

Earlier this month, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal claimed that according to an “intelligence bureau report” AAP is going to form the next government in Gujarat.

(With agency inputs)