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4 states to go to the polls on November 25

A one-day poll will be held on November 25 in the assembly elections to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram, the Election Commission announced today.

Simultaneous by-elections will be held to one Lok Sabha seat from Gujarat and seven assembly seats in Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Counting of votes will be taken up on November 28 and the election process will be completed by December 4, much before the end of the terms of the assemblies -- Mizoram (December 9), Delhi (December 13), Madhya Pradesh (December 22) and Rajasthan (December 27).

Though the formal election notification would be issued on October 30, the model code of conduct comes into effect today with the announcement of the elections, Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill told reporters.

Electronic voting machines would be used for polling in 16 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

The constituencies are Gwalior, Lashkar East, Lashkar West, Bhopal South and Bhopal North in Madhya Pradesh, Hawa Mahal, Johribazar, Kishanpole, Ajmer East-SC, Ajmer West in Rajasthan and Sarojini Nagar, Gole Market, Minto Road, Kasturba Nagar, Jangpura and Delhi Cantonment in Delhi.

While the nominations open on October 30, the day of notification, the last date for filing papers is November 6.

Scrutiny of nominations will be held on November 7 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is November 9.

State funding of recognised political parties would be extended for the elections through free use of state-owned television and radio under directions of the commission, Gill said.

The parties which would get these facilities are the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India, CPI-M, the Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party.

The BJP would get 195 minutes of broadcast/telecast time in Madhya Pradesh, 50 minutes in Mizoram, 190 minutes in Rajasthan and 135 minutes in Delhi.

The Congress would be allotted 190 minutes in Madhya Pradesh, 110 minutes in Mizoram, 195 minutes in Rajasthan and 120 minutes in Delhi.

The model code would be strictly enforced to ensure a level-playing field for all the parties, Gill said.

The code had come into effect immediately as enforcing it only for 15 days, between notification and date of polling, was meaningless, he contended.

Opinion polls would be banned 48 hours before the commencement of polling so that the voters could take a decision without any undue influence, the CEC said.

There would be no ban on exit polls.

He cautioned the contending parties against making any political speeches at functions organised on October 2 to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The commission would not tolerate any ''pre-election Santa Clauses,'' Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurthy said.

The commission was determined to ensure that the polls were free and fair.

''Adequate paramilitary forces would be deployed in all the states going to polls,'' he said.

Gill ruled out proxy voting for defence personnel, stating that the government had not yet taken a decision on the issue.

The proposed changes in the affidavit to be filed by candidates to prevent criminals from contesting elections would also not come into force for the current elections, he said.

UNI

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