The election schedule for Himachal Pradesh state assembly has been announced. Now elections will be held in two phases on November 14th and December 19th. While, elections for the snow bound areas will be held on November 14th, for other seats, the elections will take place on December 19th.
Three constituencies will go to polls in the first phase and 65 in the second.
As per earlier plan, the state was to go to polls in February 2008.
As per programme announced by the Election Commission of India, the counting of votes in Himachal Pradesh will be taken up on December 28.
The poll schedule was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy at a press conference in New Delhi.
The code of conduct for the election was also enforced from today.
Meanwhile, Himachal chief minister, Vir Bhadra Singh who is in USA these days may come back to state by tonight to tomorrow, according to an official spokesman.
SCHEDULE I
(For election to 3
ACs i.e. 1-Kinnaur (ST); 54-Bharmour (ST) and 55-Lahaul & Spiti (ST)
| Date of Issue of Gazette Notification |
Last Date for makingNomination |
Last Date for Scrutiny of Nominations |
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidature |
The date(s) on which Poll shall, if necessary, be taken |
|
20.10.07 (Saturday)
|
27.10.07 (Saturday) |
29.10.07 (Monday) |
31.10.07 (Wednesday) |
14.11.07 (Wednesday) |
SCHEDULE II
(For election to the remaining 65 Assembly Constituencies)
| Date of Issue of Gazette Notification |
Last Date for makingNomination |
Last Date for Scrutiny of Nominations |
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidature |
The date(s) on which Poll shall, if necessary, be taken |
|
23.11.07 (Friday)
|
30.11.07 (Friday) |
01.12.07 (Saturday) |
03.12..07 (Monday) |
19.12.07 (Wednesday) |
Counting for both the Phases on 28.12.07 (Friday)
The date before which election shall be completed : 31.12.07
The terms of the Legislative Assemblies of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are normally due to expire on 26th December 2007 and 9th March 2008 respectively. By virtue of its powers, duties and functions under Article 324 read with Article 172(1) of the Constitution of India, Section 15 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Commission is under a constitutional mandate to hold general elections to constitute the new Legislative Assemblies in these States at any time within a period of six months before the expiry of the present term.
In the case of Himachal Pradesh, there are 68 assembly constituencies. Out of them, there are 3 ACs namely, 1-Kinnaur (ST), 54-Bharmour (ST) and 55-Lahaul and Spiti (ST) located in higher reaches of the State. The passes in this area are officially closed on 15th November in view of winter and snowfall. In the past, whenever the General Elections were held during winter, though the elections were announced together for the entire State, invariably, the elections to these 3 ACs had to be postponed to a later date in May – June as the areas become snow bound and inaccessible. There was a demand that the elections to all the constituencies in Himachal Pradesh should be held together and there was a specific opinion against the elections to the above 3 ACs being held separately after the conclusion of the elections in the other constituencies. This matter also is being agitated before the Hon’ble High Court of Himachal Pradesh.
The Election Commission had a consultation meeting with all the political parties on this issue and all the political parties were of the view that the elections to all the constituencies of Himachal should be held together, and expressed a specific opinion against the idea of elections to the 3 ACs being conducted after the election process is completed in rest of the State.
Keeping all these in view, the Election Commission has decided to announce the election schedule for conducting general election to Himachal Pradesh.
ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCIES
2. There are 182 Assembly Constituency seats (ACs) in Gujarat out of which 26 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and 13 seats are reserved for Schedules Castes. In case of Himachal Pradesh, there are 68 seats of which 3 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 16 are reserved for Scheduled Castes.
ELECTORAL ROLLS
3. General Elections will be conducted in these States on the basis of the electoral rolls revised with reference to 01.01.07 as the qualifying date. The electoral roll revision process in these States has been completed and the final publication was made in Gujarat on 23.07.07 and in case of Himachal Pradesh on 5.6.07. As per final rolls, there are 3,66,39,686 electors in the State of Gujarat and 45,43,024 electors in Himachal Pradesh. The electoral rolls of all the Assembly Constituencies of these States have been computerized and are available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officers of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
ELECTORS PHOTO IDENTITY CARDS (EPIC)
4. Identification of the voters at the polling booth at the time of poll shall be mandatory. Presently, in Gujarat, EPIC coverage stands at 81.34% while in case of Himachal Pradesh it is 73.11%. The Commission has issued instructions to both the states to continue the campaign for increasing the EPIC coverage.
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs)
5 The Elections in both the States will be conducted at all polling stations using EVMs. The Commission has already made arrangements to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs for the smooth conduct of elections.
INDELIBLE INK
6. The Commission in recent times has been adopting a new procedure for the application of indelible ink. The new procedure of applying the ink as a line running from top of the nail to the bottom of first joint of the left forefinger will be followed during the forthcoming general election in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh also.
LAW AND ORDER AND DEPLOYMENT OF FORCES
7. Based on the assessment of the ground situation, Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs) and State Armed Police (SAPs) drawn from other States will be deployed during the ensuing general elections. The CPMF and SAP will be used generally for safeguarding the polling stations and for providing security to the electors and polling personnel at the polling stations on the poll day. Besides, these forces will be used for securing the strong rooms where the EVMs are stored and at the counting centers. Wherever needed, the CPMF will be deployed in advance for area domination. The identification of polling stations requiring coverage by CPMF in various assembly constituencies will be made in consultation with the ECI Observers.
8. The Commission has been issuing instructions from time to time with regard to the advance preventive measures to be taken by the District Magistrates and Police authorities to maintain the Law & Order and to create atmosphere conducive for the conduct of free and fair elections. The Commission will be monitoring the ground situation closely and will take appropriate measures to ensure peaceful, free and fair polls in these States.
OBSERVERS
10. The Commission will be deploying General and Expenditure Observers to ensure smooth conduct of forthcoming General Election in these two states. The Observers will be asked to keep a close watch on every stage of the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections.
CONDUCT OF OFFICIALS
11. The Commission expects all officials engaged in the conduct of elections to discharge their duties in an impartial manner without any fear or favour. Several instructions have been issued from time to time to ensure impartiality of officials who are engaged in conduct of elections. The conduct of all government officials who have been entrusted with election related responsibilities and duties would remain under constant scrutiny of the Commission and strict action shall be taken against those officials who are found wanting on any account.
12. The Commission has already given instructions that no election related official or
Police officer of the rank of Sub Inspector and above shall be allowed to continue in his home district. Besides, instructions have also been issued that all the election related officials including the police officials who have completed three years in a district during last four years should be transferred out of that district. The Government of the States has also been asked to transfer all those officers against whom the Commission has recommended disciplinary action or who have been charged for any lapse during previous elections or for any election related work, from the positions entailing any election work.
13. The Governments of these States have been instructed to ensure that those who stand transferred shall move out physically of their last place of posting and not remain there on any pretext including leave.
14. The Commission has also instructed the State Government not to associate any officer with the electoral process against whom charges have been framed in a court of law in any case.
PROTECTION TO SC/ST ELECTORS
20. As per Section 3 (1) (vii) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, forces or intimidates a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe not to vote or to vote to a particular candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided by law shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine. The Commission has asked the State Government to bring these provisions to the notice of all concerned for prompt action.
POLLING STATIONS
15. There are 39620 polling stations in Gujarat and 6232 polling stations in Himachal Pradesh. For the facility of physically challenged persons, instructions have been issued to ensure that all polling stations are located at ground floor and ramps are provided. Facilitation shall also be provided for locating voter’s name against a polling station or a group of polling stations through help lines and facilitation centres.
POLLING PARTIES AND RANDOMIZATION
16. Polling parties shall be formed randomly, through a special software. Three-stage randomization will be adopted. First, from a wider district database of eligible officials, a shortlist of about 150% of the required numbers will be randomly picked. This group will be trained for polling duties. In the second stage, from this trained manpower, actual polling parties shall be formed by random selection software in the presence of ECI Observers. In the last stage, the polling stations will be allocated just before the polling party’s departure by random number generation. The Central Government Employees will be utilized for the forthcoming elections to the extent possible.
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
18. The District Election Officers have been asked to prepare a comprehensive district election plan including communication plan using multi-mode resources such as landline telephones, mobile telephones, wireless sets etc., to facilitate effective monitoring and control on the day of poll. They have also been asked to open Help Lines /Control Rooms in each AC for the convenience of electors.
VIDEOGRAPHY
19. The Commission has issued detailed guidelines for video coverage of all critical events during the election process and polling at all vulnerable polling booths on the poll day. The digital cameras will also be deployed inside the booths wherever needed.
MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT
21. The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately from now onwards. The Code will apply to the whole of the State of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and will be applicable to all candidates, political parties, the State Governments concerned and the Union Government.
SCHEDULE
22. The Commission has prepared the schedule for holding General Election to the Legislative Assemblies of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh after taking into consideration all relevant aspects like the climatic conditions, academic schedules, festivals, prevailing law and order situation in the State, availability of Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs), time needed for movement and proper deployment of forces, and assessment of other ground realities.
23. The Commission after considering all relevant aspects has decided to recommend to the Governors of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to issue notifications for the General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of the respective States under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as per the schedules given in the Annexure I.(for Gujarat )and Annexure II (for Himachal Pradesh)
24. The names of the Assembly Constituencies of Gujarat going to poll in phase I are in Annexure III and names of the Assembly Constituencies of Gujarat going to poll in phase II are in Annexure IV .
Election Commission of India
New Delhi, Asvina 18, 1929
October 10, 2007
RM/AS-101007-
ANNEXURE I
Schedule for Election to Legislative Assembly of Gujarat
SCHEDULE I
(For election to 87 Assembly Constituencies as in annexure III)
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification
Last Date for making Nomination
Last Date for Scrutiny of Nominations
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidature
The date(s) on which Poll shall, if necessary, be taken
15.11.07
(Thursday)
22.11.07
(Thursday)
23.11.07 (Friday)
26.11.07
(Monday)
11.12.07
(Tuesday)
SCHEDULE II
(For election to the remaining 95 Assembly Constituencies as in annexure IV)
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification
Last Date for making Nomination
Last Date for Scrutiny of Nominations
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidature
The date(s) on which Poll shall, if necessary, be taken
21.11.07
(Wednesday)
28.11.07
(Wednesday)
29.11.07
(Thursday)
01.12.07
(Saturday)
16.12.07
(Sunday)
Counting for both the phases on 23.12.07 (Sunday)
The date before which election shall be completed : 26.12.07
ANNEXURE II
Schedule for Election to Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh
SCHEDULE I
(For election to 3 ACs i.e. 1-Kinnaur (ST); 54-Bharmour (ST) and 55-Lahaul & Spiti (ST)
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification
Last Date for making Nomination
Last Date for Scrutiny of Nominations
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidature
The date(s) on which Poll shall, if necessary, be taken
20.10.07
(Saturday)
27.10.07
(Saturday)
29.10.07
(Monday)
31.10.07
(Wednesday)
14.11.07
(Wednesday)
SCHEDULE II
(For election to the remaining 65 Assembly Constituencies)
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification
Last Date for making Nomination
Last Date for Scrutiny of Nominations
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidature
The date(s) on which Poll shall, if necessary, be taken
23.11.07 (Friday)
30.11.07 (Friday)
01.12.07 (Saturday)
03.12..07 (Monday)
19.12.07
(Wednesday)
Counting for both the Phases on 28.12.07 (Friday)
The date before which election shall be completed : 31.12.07
Annexure III
No.& Names of the Assembly Constituencies of Gujarat going to poll in Phase I
NO. & NAME OF ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCY
TYPE
1
ABDASA
GEN
2
MANDVI
GEN
3
BHUJ
GEN
4
MUNDRA
SC
5
ANJAR
GEN
6
RAPAR
GEN
7
DASADA
SC
8
WADHWAN
GEN
9
LIMBDI
GEN
10
CHOTILA
GEN
11
HALVAD
GEN
12
DHRANGADHRA
GEN
13
MORVI
GEN
14
TANKARA
GEN
15
WANKANER
GEN
16
JASDAN
GEN
17
RAJKOT-I
GEN
18
RAJKOT-II
GEN
19
RAJKOT RURAL
SC
20
GONDAL
GEN
21
JETPUR
GEN
22
DHORAJI
GEN
23
UPLETA
GEN
24
JODIYA
GEN
25
JAMNAGAR
GEN
26
JAMNAGAR RURAL
SC
27
KALAWAD
GEN
28
JAMJODHPUR
GEN
29
BHANVAD
GEN
30
KHAMBHALIA
GEN
31
DWARKA
GEN
32
PORBANDAR
GEN
33
KUTIYANA
GEN
34
MANGROL
GEN
35
MANAVADAR
GEN
36
KESHOD
SC
37
TALALA
GEN
38
SOMNATH
GEN
39
UNA
GEN
40
VISAVADAR
GEN
41
MALIYA
GEN
42
JUNAGADH
GEN
43
BABRA
GEN
44
LATHI
GEN
45
AMRELI
GEN
46
DHARI
GEN
47
KODINAR
GEN
48
RAJULA
GEN
49
BOTAD
GEN
50
GADHADA
SC
51
PALITANA
GEN
52
SIHOR
GEN
53
KUNDLA
GEN
54
MAHUVA
GEN
55
TALAJA
GEN
56
GHOGHO
GEN
57
BHAVNAGAR NORTH
GEN
58
BHAVNAGAR SOUTH
GEN
154
JAMBUSAR
GEN
155
VAGRA
GEN
156
BROACH
GEN
157
ANKLESHWAR
GEN
158
JHAGADIA
ST
159
DEDIAPADA
ST
160
RAJPIPLA
ST
161
NIJHAR
ST
162
MANGROL
ST
163
SONGADH
ST
164
VYARA
ST
165
MAHUVA
ST
166
BARDOLI
ST
167
KAMREJ
ST
168
OLPAD
GEN
169
SURAT CITY NORTH
GEN
170
SURAT CITY EAST
GEN
171
SURAT CITY WEST
GEN
172
CHORASI
GEN
173
JALALPORE
GEN
174
NAVSARI
ST
175
GANDEVI
GEN
176
CHIKHLI
ST
177
DANGS BANSDA
ST
178
BULSAR
GEN
179
DHARAMPUR
ST
180
MOTA PONDHA
ST
181
PARDI
ST
182
UMBERGAON
ST
Annexure IV
No.& Names of the Assembly Constituencies of Gujarat going to poll in Phase II
NO. & NAME OF ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCY
TYPE
59
DHANDHUKA
GEN
60
DHOLKA
GEN
61
BAVLA
SC
62
MANDAL
GEN
63
VIRAMGAM
GEN
64
SARKHEJ
GEN
65
DASKROI
GEN
66
DEHGAM
GEN
67
SABARMATI
GEN
68
ELLIS BRIDGE
GEN
69
DARIAPUR-KAZIPUR
GEN
70
SHAHPUR
GEN
71
KALUPUR
GEN
72
ASARWA
GEN
73
RAKHIAL
GEN
74
SHAHER KOTDA
SC
75
KHADIA
GEN
76
JAMALPUR
GEN
77
MANINAGAR
GEN
78
NARODA
GEN
79
GANDHINAGAR
GEN
80
KALOL
GEN
81
KADI
GEN
82
JOTANA
SC
83
MEHSANA
GEN
84
MANSA
GEN
85
VIJAPUR
GEN
86
VISNAGAR
GEN
87
KHERALU
GEN
88
UNJHA
GEN
89
SIDHPUR
GEN
90
VAGDOD
GEN
91
PATAN
GEN
92
CHANASMA
GEN
93
SAMI
GEN
94
RADHANPUR
GEN
95
VAV
GEN
96
DEODAR
GEN
97
KANKREJ
GEN
98
DEESA
GEN
99
DHANERA
GEN
100
PALANPUR
GEN
101
VADGAM
SC
102
DANTA
GEN
103
KHEDBRAHMA
ST
104
IDAR
SC
105
BHILODA
GEN
106
HIMATNAGAR
GEN
107
PRANTIJ
GEN
108
MODASA
GEN
109
BAYAD
GEN
110
MEGHRAJ
GEN
111
SANTRAMPUR
GEN
112
JHALOD
ST
113
LIMDI
ST
114
DOHAD
ST
115
LIMKHEDA
ST
116
DEVGADH BARIA
GEN
117
RAJGADH
GEN
118
HALOL
GEN
119
KALOL
GEN
120
GODHRA
GEN
121
SHEHRA
GEN
122
LUNAVADA
GEN
123
RANDHIKPUR
ST
124
BALASINOR
GEN
125
KAPADVANJ
GEN
126
THASRA
GEN
127
UMRETH
GEN
128
KATHLAL
GEN
129
MEHMEDABAD
GEN
130
MAHUDHA
GEN
131
NADIAD
GEN
132
CHAKALASI
GEN
133
ANAND
GEN
134
SARSA
GEN
135
PETLAD
GEN
136
SOJITRA
SC
137
MATAR
GEN
138
BORSAD
GEN
139
BHADRAN
GEN
140
CAMBAY
GEN
141
CHHOTA UDAIPUR
ST
142
JETPUR
GEN
143
NASVADI
ST
144
SANKHEDA
ST
145
DABHOI
GEN
146
SAVLI
GEN
147
BARODA CITY
GEN
148
SAYAJIGANJ
GEN
149
RAOPURA
GEN
150
VAGHODIA
GEN
151
BARODA RURAL
GEN
152
PADRA
GEN
153
KARJAN
SC
http://eci.gov.in/press/current/PN_10102007.pdf