The Election Commission said on Friday that elections for the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh legislature will take place on November 12 and that results will be declared on December 8.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the last date for filing nominations will be October 25, and the last date of withdrawal will be October 29. The term of the state assembly ends on 8 January 2023.
The elections for the Gujarat assembly were not announced by the election authority. The model code of conduct, during which the government is prohibited from making decisions that can have an impact on the election, was reduced from 70 days to 57 days, according to Kumar, by choosing to first declare the Himachal Pradesh elections.
We do not want the entire election process to continue for a very long period,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Shimla, led by Jairam Thakur, is attempting to regain control of the city by capitalising on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has recently announced projects totaling more than 6,000 crores and performed a number of rallies. The Kangra region, which elects nearly a quarter of the state’s legislature, is a focus for the BJP. The saffron party is concerned because Kangra has a history of voting against the ruling party. Typically, the party that gets the most seats in Kangra establishes the state’s government.
The Congress is engaged in internal conflict as it attempts to regain control in the swing state. Congress is plagued with dissatisfaction and defections as a result of the leadership crisis. During the Prime Minister’s rally, the Congress leaders opened fire on the current BJP administration, with senior leader Bhupesh Baghel accusing the party of betraying the state’s citizens.
Kumar added that special proactive steps were taken to register persons with disabilities, senior citizens and transgenders. The commission also wants to address urban apathy, as it noted that the least voter turn-out was mostly in metropolitan cities, stating that awareness programmes will be undertaken to encourage them to vote.
Election authorities have also been tasked with finding the polling places in each constituency with the lowest percentage of voters and motivating them to cast their ballots. Each assembly seat will also have at least one voting place administered by a woman, complete with security personnel, and the Commission is also putting up polling places staffed by people with disabilities. There are currently 82 lakh PwD voters in the nation.
The commission has concluded that voters who are 80 years of age or older and those who are Covid-19 infected may cast ballots either in person at the polls or by mail. To ensure no political party exerts undue influence on voters, the entire postal ballot collection procedure will be videotaped for the first time.