Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora.
Maharashtra, Haryana Assembly Elections 2019 Date, Schedule Live Updates: Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will take place in a single phase on October 21 while counting of votes will be held on October 24, Election Commission chief Sunil Arora said on Saturday. Both Maharashtra and Haryana are the first states to go to polls after the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.
While the term of Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the Haryana assembly expires on November 2. With the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect in the two states.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
With the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect in the two states.
Bye-elections to the 64 constituencies across Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh will also be held on October 21; counting of votes will take place on October 24, the poll panel chief announced.
In Maharashtra and Haryana, the notification will be issued on September 27. The last date of nominations is October 4. Polling will be held on October 21 while counting will take place on October 24.
"Special security arrangements will be made for LWE affected areas in Gadchiroli and Gondia in Maharashtra," Arora said.
"There is a Rs 28 lakh-cap on poll expense on each candidate. We appeal the candidates to use environment-friendly materials. We reassure all the stakeholders about the quality of electronic voting machines," Arora said.
"The 5-year term of the Legislative Assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra expires on 2nd November and 9th November," the CEC told reporters.
"Both Haryana and Maharashtra are sound-fitting in terms of poll preparation. All types are arrangements are being made for the voters. Candidates will require to fill all the columns in their poll form. The Election Commission is privileged to play a role in democracy," Arora said.
"We had an in-depth discussion with nodal officers, DSPs, Commissioners of Police as well as central and state enforcement agencies. After all the meetings, we are here to provide the media with the details of the meeting," Arora said.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora is addressing the media. "Every new election, there are new insights and learnings for the future," he says.
Ahead of the Assembly polls, key desertions from the Congress and the NCP camps have reshaped Maharashtra’s political landscape. As many as 24 senior leaders — including 13 serving legislators and 10 former ministers — have defected to join either the BJP or the Shiv Sena since the Congress-NCP alliance’s drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls. Let us take a look at the list of a few NCP and Congress leaders who have recently joined the BJP and the Sena.
BJP chief Amit Shah urged Haryana to give the party 75 plus seats in the ensuing Assembly elections so that Manohar Lal Khattar once again forms the government. “Earlier, Haryana was known for shady land deals. Selection to government jobs had turned into a business. But Khattar eliminated it. In one term, he turned corruption into ‘bhoot kaal’ (past tense),” Shah said. “Khattar ended casteism. Earlier, jobs were given on the basis of caste. Development should not be undertaken on the basis of caste. Money used to be exchanged for transfers,” Shah said, adding that a computerised mechanism for transferring government employees in state is now in place.
Key desertions from the Congress and the NCP camps have reshaped Maharashtra’s political landscape. As many as 24 senior leaders — including 13 serving legislators and 10 former ministers — have defected to join either the BJP or the Shiv Sena since the Congress-NCP alliance’s drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls. In 2014, the two parties had contested the state elections separately. Sharad Pawar had ended the 15-year alliance after the two parties had been unable to reach a seat-sharing arrangement. Congress had won 42 seats while the NCP had won 41 seats in 2014. The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party in the state with 122 seats.
Announcing a seat-sharing pact with the Congress for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the two parties will contest 125 seats each while leaving 38 seats for allies. Maharashtra has a total of 288 seats in the Assembly. Both Congress and NCP have been rattled by the drubbing they received in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra and a spate of defections from their ranks.
Buoyed by the results of the recent Lok Sabha polls when it had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats from Haryana, the BJP’s preparations for Assembly polls are already in full swing. Continuous desertions in the opposition INLD and its leaders joining the ruling BJP has further boosted the morale of the saffron party.
Earlier this month in Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the bugle for the upcoming polls, saying the “mammoth support” for Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar shows the “direction of the wind” and makes clear with whom people’s blessings will be in the state. Kicking off the BJP’s campaign in Rohtak ahead of the state polls, the Prime Minister said it was the saffron party that ended corruption, the “game” of transferring teachers and illegal farm-land deals. He also took a dig at the previous Congress government, saying it only promoted “parivarvaad” (dynastic politics). Click here to read more.
While the term of Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the Haryana assembly expires on November 2. The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect after the announcement of dates.
The Election Commission today will announce the dates for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana — the first states to go to polls after the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. While the term of Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the Haryana assembly expires on November 2. Follow our blog for all the latest updates.