The Election Commission announced the schedule for the Gujarat Assembly elections on Thursday. Elections will take place in two phases: December 1 and December 5. Results will be declared on December 8, 2022. The filing of nominations for the candidates will begin on 14 November and 17 November for two phases.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the Election Commission is committed to conducting free, fair, transparent, and inducement-free elections. He announced that live telecast would be done at about 50 % of polling stations. He said that there will be a zero tolerance policy for the officials conducting the election and found violating the guidelines.
There are over 4.9 crore electors eligible to vote this year. There will be more than 51,000 polling stations set up, including more than 34,000 in rural areas. Ahead of the polls, the Centre has deployed 160 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces to the state.
The term of the 182-member state Assembly ends on February 18, 2023. After the Gujarat poll dates are announced today, the Model Code of Conduct will come into effect in the state.
EC has said that elections will be held at 51782 polling stations across Gujarat. Each polling station will have on average 948 voters.
There will be 1274 polling stations, managed entirely by women and 182 by persons with disabilities. A special observer for accessibility to voters with disabilities will be deputed for the first time. In a first, 33 special polling stations, one each in every district, will be there exclusively for young and first-time voters. The distance between two polling stations is not more than 2 km.
The Election Commission said that more than 4.90 lakh people are eligible to vote for 182 assembly seats in Gujarat. 3.24 lakh are first-time voters, whereas 9.89 lakh voters are 80 years or older. The system of arranging to obtain the votes from their homes is being put in place for the first time. There are more than 10000 registered voters aged more than 100 years.
Also Read: Gujarat Polls: Election Commission To Announce Dates At 12 Noon Today
