‘The model code of conduct has come into immediate effect and will apply to the two poll-bound states,’ Sampath said in a press conference where election commissioners HS Brahma and SNA Zaidi were also present.
On the context of polling stations, he said, ‘In Haryana there will be 16,244 polling stations while in Maharashtra it will be 90,403. All the polling stations will be adequately guarded to prevent any untoward incident.’ Maharashtra, which consists of 288 assembly constituencies, will see nearly 8.26 crore voters cast their franchise in this assembly poll, while in Haryana the total number of voters are 1.62 crore. There are 90 assembly constituencies in Haryana.
EC will also hold simultaneous by-elections for the Lok Sabha constituencies of Beed in Maharashtra and Kandhamal in Odisha. While Beed fell vacant following the death of sitting MP Gopinath Munde in a car accident on 3 June, Kandhamal MP Hemendra Chandra Singh (BJD) passed away due to multiple organ failure on 4 September.
EVMs will be used in all the assembly and parliamentary constituencies going to polls on 15 October. ‘While all will have a ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option button, EVMs in 13 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra and six in Haryana (for the first time) will also be equipped with voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). The VVPAT is a method of providing feedback to voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, to detect possible election fraud.
Sampath said the other two states of Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand will go to polls separately. When asked whether the EC could postpone the Jammu & Kashmir poll, he said, ‘We are watching the situation very closely and after things will come to shape, a decision will be taken.’
Another five assembly constituencies- Kanubari (ST) in Arunachal Pradesh, Hiyanglam in Manipur, Northern Angami in Nagaland, Kairana in Uttar Pradesh and Rajkot West in Gujarat will also go to polls on 15 October. While the term of the Haryana assembly expires on 27 October, the Maharashtra assembly will be dissolve on 8 November. The BJP has welcomed the poll announcement by the EC. ‘We are confident of getting two-thirds majority in both Haryana and Maharashtra,’ IB minister Prakash Javadekar said.
Meanwhile, BJP, which had suffered a setback in the state recently after losing its ally Haryana Janhit Congress or HJC, is expected to field cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who met BJP President Amit Shah at the party headquarters in Delhi on Friday, to campaign in Haryana. Recently, HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi ended his party’s three-year alliance with the BJP after accusing it of being ‘a serial betrayer’.
On the context of polling stations, he said, ‘In Haryana there will be 16,244 polling stations while in Maharashtra it will be 90,403. All the polling stations will be adequately guarded to prevent any untoward incident.’ Maharashtra, which consists of 288 assembly constituencies, will see nearly 8.26 crore voters cast their franchise in this assembly poll, while in Haryana the total number of voters are 1.62 crore. There are 90 assembly constituencies in Haryana.
EC will also hold simultaneous by-elections for the Lok Sabha constituencies of Beed in Maharashtra and Kandhamal in Odisha. While Beed fell vacant following the death of sitting MP Gopinath Munde in a car accident on 3 June, Kandhamal MP Hemendra Chandra Singh (BJD) passed away due to multiple organ failure on 4 September.
EVMs will be used in all the assembly and parliamentary constituencies going to polls on 15 October. ‘While all will have a ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option button, EVMs in 13 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra and six in Haryana (for the first time) will also be equipped with voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). The VVPAT is a method of providing feedback to voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, to detect possible election fraud.
Sampath said the other two states of Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand will go to polls separately. When asked whether the EC could postpone the Jammu & Kashmir poll, he said, ‘We are watching the situation very closely and after things will come to shape, a decision will be taken.’
Another five assembly constituencies- Kanubari (ST) in Arunachal Pradesh, Hiyanglam in Manipur, Northern Angami in Nagaland, Kairana in Uttar Pradesh and Rajkot West in Gujarat will also go to polls on 15 October. While the term of the Haryana assembly expires on 27 October, the Maharashtra assembly will be dissolve on 8 November. The BJP has welcomed the poll announcement by the EC. ‘We are confident of getting two-thirds majority in both Haryana and Maharashtra,’ IB minister Prakash Javadekar said.
Meanwhile, BJP, which had suffered a setback in the state recently after losing its ally Haryana Janhit Congress or HJC, is expected to field cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who met BJP President Amit Shah at the party headquarters in Delhi on Friday, to campaign in Haryana. Recently, HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi ended his party’s three-year alliance with the BJP after accusing it of being ‘a serial betrayer’.