NEW DELHI: Board polls in Gujarat to be announced soon, with voting likely to be held in one or two phases and completed on 4 December, followed by a counting of votes together with Himachal, Election Commission sources are indicated.
Although the current Gujarat council’s term expires on 18 February next year, polls in the state will be held earlier to avoid any impact of the Himachal results on the level playing field. , they say.
Although Himachal has so far seen head-to-head competition between the BJP and Congress, AAP has managed to turn it into a triangle this time. For nearly 37 years, the BJP and Congress have rotated benches in the state every five years. But under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP hopes to counter this model.
In addition, the contest in Himachal this time will be missing familiar faces that have dominated the state’s politics for many years. While Congress member and former CM Vir Bhadra Singh is no more, BJP’s Shanta Kumar, who was also a CM, has been inactive due to his advanced age. Another former CM, Prem Kumar Dhumal, who became the face of the BJP in the final polls, is no longer controversial after his shock defeat.
In 2017, EC under chief election commissioner AK Joti, declared Himachal poll on October 13 and Polls in Gujarat separate polls on October 25. While the polls in Himachal were held in a single phase on November 9, the polls in Gujarat followed in two phases on December 9 and 14. Vote counting for both states was done simultaneously on December 18.
CEC Rajiv Kumar on Friday said the exploratory panel had decided to follow the previous convention (2017) to rescind the announcement of the Himachal election from Gujarat, due to factors such as the 40-day gap between the end of the term of office. Gujarat and Himachal councils, about to start snowing in the upper reaches of Himachal and the need to cut the period of the model code of conduct (MCC). He said the MCC period (distance between announcement and counting of votes) has therefore been cut to 57 days in the case of Himachal from 70 days in 2017 and 81 (when the Gujarat and Himachal polls were conducted). held together) in 2012. Additionally, the people of Himachal will have Kumar said: “We followed the convention of 2017 and perfected it further in two weeks.
When contacted, AK Joti, who as CEC announced the 2017 polls in Himachal and Gujarat within days of each other and invited accusations of allowing the ruling party to publish slumps. dropped at the last minute, saying it was unnecessary to take part in club polls. in two states because they are not geographically contiguous and are located in different agro-climatic zones. “The Himachal polls cannot be held in the severe winter due to snow. There is no such limit for the case of Gujarat. In 2017, we removed the poll notices for two. state as the government of Gujarat sought time to complete the ongoing relief work following heavy rain and also we wanted to ensure that the MCC, consistent with SC judgments, does not last more than 46 days ,” he said.
Regarding the convention of binding polls in states with tight expiration times of their meetings, CEC Kumar said the terms of organization in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, which went to vote together in 2021, ended in a 10-15 day interval. In the last round of exploration in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, the terms of the non-UP boards ended in about a week.
Although the current Gujarat council’s term expires on 18 February next year, polls in the state will be held earlier to avoid any impact of the Himachal results on the level playing field. , they say.
Although Himachal has so far seen head-to-head competition between the BJP and Congress, AAP has managed to turn it into a triangle this time. For nearly 37 years, the BJP and Congress have rotated benches in the state every five years. But under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP hopes to counter this model.
In addition, the contest in Himachal this time will be missing familiar faces that have dominated the state’s politics for many years. While Congress member and former CM Vir Bhadra Singh is no more, BJP’s Shanta Kumar, who was also a CM, has been inactive due to his advanced age. Another former CM, Prem Kumar Dhumal, who became the face of the BJP in the final polls, is no longer controversial after his shock defeat.
In 2017, EC under chief election commissioner AK Joti, declared Himachal poll on October 13 and Polls in Gujarat separate polls on October 25. While the polls in Himachal were held in a single phase on November 9, the polls in Gujarat followed in two phases on December 9 and 14. Vote counting for both states was done simultaneously on December 18.
CEC Rajiv Kumar on Friday said the exploratory panel had decided to follow the previous convention (2017) to rescind the announcement of the Himachal election from Gujarat, due to factors such as the 40-day gap between the end of the term of office. Gujarat and Himachal councils, about to start snowing in the upper reaches of Himachal and the need to cut the period of the model code of conduct (MCC). He said the MCC period (distance between announcement and counting of votes) has therefore been cut to 57 days in the case of Himachal from 70 days in 2017 and 81 (when the Gujarat and Himachal polls were conducted). held together) in 2012. Additionally, the people of Himachal will have Kumar said: “We followed the convention of 2017 and perfected it further in two weeks.
When contacted, AK Joti, who as CEC announced the 2017 polls in Himachal and Gujarat within days of each other and invited accusations of allowing the ruling party to publish slumps. dropped at the last minute, saying it was unnecessary to take part in club polls. in two states because they are not geographically contiguous and are located in different agro-climatic zones. “The Himachal polls cannot be held in the severe winter due to snow. There is no such limit for the case of Gujarat. In 2017, we removed the poll notices for two. state as the government of Gujarat sought time to complete the ongoing relief work following heavy rain and also we wanted to ensure that the MCC, consistent with SC judgments, does not last more than 46 days ,” he said.
Regarding the convention of binding polls in states with tight expiration times of their meetings, CEC Kumar said the terms of organization in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, which went to vote together in 2021, ended in a 10-15 day interval. In the last round of exploration in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, the terms of the non-UP boards ended in about a week.
