EC announces Assembly election dates in five states
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi made the announcements, a day after the poll panel held a meeting with the Chief electoral officers of the 5 concerned states.
With this announcement the Model code of conduct comes into immediate effect
Zaidi said polling will be held in the total of 690 Assembly constituencies.
According to the EC, elections in Goa and Punjab will be held on February 4, in Uttarakhand on February 15-all in a single phase, while Manipur will go to polls in two phases on March 4 and March 8.
However, Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest number of constituencies will witness a seven-phase election to be held between February 11 and March 8. The dates of UP are Feb 11, Feb 15, Feb 19, Feb 23, Feb 27, March 4 and March 8.
The Assemblies in Goa (40) , Manipur (60) and Punjab (117) expire on March 18, in Uttarakhand (70) on March 26 and in Uttar Pradesh (403) on May 27.
Zaidi said nearly 16 crore voters will be participating in the 2017 Assembly elections and 1.85 lakh polling stations will be set up to enable them to exercise their franchise.
The limit for expenses for candidates is Rs 28 lakh for UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Rs 20 lakh for Manipur and Goa, the CEC said.
He said that in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur voters lists will be published on January 12, Uttarakhand on January 10, and in Goa and Punjab on January 5.
