Gujarat Election Dates to be Announced Today

The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the Gujarat Assembly elections on Thursday.

The poll body will hold a press conference at 12 pm to make the announcement. The term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18, 2023.

Last month, the EC had not announced the Gujarat poll schedule when it came out with Himachal Pradesh election dates, citing the convention followed in 2017.

Himachal Pradesh will go to polls in a single phase on November 12, the counting will take place on December 8.

"The gap between tenure of two Assemblies (Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat) is 40 days. In Himachal Pradesh, factors like weather is important, especially in upper reaches where snowing takes place. The commission goes by the convention in elections. We followed the last convention," said Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar at a press conference, explaining why elections in the two states are not being held together.

"Various factors considered, including convention, gap in qualifying dates, weather," the poll body said adding that "we do not want the entire election process to continue for a very long period."

The EC also stressed that the announcement of multiple state polls leads to longer wait in the declaration of results for some.

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