Himachal Pradesh elections on November 12, results on December 8: EC
Elections to the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh assembly will be held on November 12, and the votes will be declared on December 8, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
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 election watchdog did not announce the elections to the Gujarat assembly. Kumar said the decision to first announce Himachal Pradesh elections was in line with the past precedence and helps to reduce the duration of the model code of conduct – when the government is barred from taking decisions that might impact the election – from 70 days to 57.
“We do not want the entire election process to continue for a very long period,” he said.
The Jairam Thakur-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Shimla is seeking to return to power riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has already held several rallies and announced projects worth over ₹6,000 crores in the last two weeks. The BJP is focusing on Kangra region which elects about a quarter of the state’s assembly. Kangra has always shown a trend of voting against the incumbent regime, raising concerns for the saffron party. The party that wins the maximum number of seats in Kangra normally forms the government in the state.
The Congress, which aims to return to power in the swing state, is busy battling its own infighting. Mired in the leadership crisis, Congress is marred by discontent and defections. Meanwhile, the Congress leaders came out all guns blazing criticising the incumbent BJP government during the Prime Minister’s rally, with senior leader Bhupesh Baghel accusing the party of betraying the people of the state.
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 officials have also been asked to identify the polling booths with the least voting percentage in each constituency and encourage them to vote. There will also be at least one women-run polling station in each assembly constituency, including security staff, along with this the Commission is also setting up stations managed by PwD staff. At present, there are 82 lakh PwD voters in the country.
The commission has decided that 80+ age voters and Covid-19 infected voters can either vote at the polling station, or use postal ballots. The entire process of the postal ballot collection will be video-graphed for the first time to ensure no political party exercises undue influence over voters.