51,000 polling stations in Gujarat, special efforts to improve turnout: EC | 5 points

The Election Commission on Thursday announced dates for the Gujarat elections and said special efforts will be made to improve voter turnout in the state.

By India Today Web Desk: The Election Commission on Thursday announced the dates for the assembly elections in Gujarat. The polls will be held in two phases — December 1 and December 5 — and results will be declared along with that of the Himachal Pradesh polls, on December 8.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar stated that the election date announcement was delayed due to the horrifying tragedy in Morbi that claimed over 140 lives. Several factors, including weather, were taken into account before finalising the dates, he added.

“At times, parties critical of the commission have got surprise results in elections. Some have questioned EVMs, but they are silent when they win elections through the same EVMs,” the chief election commissioner responded to allegations of EVM tampering on Thursday.

Here are the top points from the EC press conference.

November 14 is the last date to file nominations to contest the Gujarat polls. The last date for withdrawing nominations is November 17. While 89 seats will go to polls in the first phase, 93 will vote in the second. Counting of votes for all 182 assembly seats will be held on December 8.

Three more assembly elections are due before March and a number of factors are taken into account for deciding poll schedule, the EC said.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that polling booths with the least voter percentage in each seat will be identified and special efforts will be made to improve turnout there.

Some delay in announcing Gujarat elections due to recent tragedy, the EC said, referring to the Morbi bridge collapse incident that claimed over 140 lives.

The EC has earmarked over 51,000 polling stations for Gujarat assembly polls, including more than 34,000 in rural areas. Over 4.9 crore total electors are eligible to vote the elections. We are focussing on urban apathy seriously to improve voter turnout, CEC Rajiv Kumar said.

Courtesy : India Today

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