The Election Commission of India on Saturday announced the polling schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand.
The Assembly elections in the five states will be completed in seven phases. While the polling would be conducted in seven phases in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur will go to vote in two phases. Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will go to poll in a single phase. Here are the phase-wise dates for the five states:
First Phase
In Uttar Pradesh, polling for phase 1 will be conducted on February 10, 2022.
Second Phase
Polling will be conducted in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on February 14, 2022.
Third Phase
Polling will only be conducted in Uttar Pradesh on February 20, 2022.
Fourth Phase
Polling will only be conducted in Uttar Pradesh on February 23, 2022.
Fifth Phase
Polling will be conducted in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur on February 27, 2022.
Sixth Phase
Polling will be conducted in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur on March 3, 2022.
Seventh Phase
Polling will only be conducted in Uttar Pradesh on March 7, 2022.
The votes for all the five states would be counted on March 10.
Elections Guidelines
In a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra announced that in view of the COVID-19 situation in the country, no roadshow, padyatra or physical rallies would be allowed in the five states till January 15.
He added that physical rallies, if allowed, will be as per the DDMA guidelines. Parties will have to provide masks, he conveyed. A maximum of five people will be allowed to participate in door-to-door campaigning, including the candidate. All candidates would be required to submit an undertaking on Suvidha app that they will follow the COVID-19 guidelines.
Chandra stated that the commission will not hesitate in cancelling rallies if there are violations of COVID-19 guidelines.
"For the past two years, Covid has made conducting elections challenging. We have been working on election preparedness for the past six months. Keeping Omicron in view, we will take all precautions possible," he said.
Chandra noted that the Election Commission has three objectives:
1. Covid safe elections
2. Easy elections
3. Maximum voter participation
"We have to conduct elections in a way which saves voters and parties," he further added.
He said that all officials on election duty would have to be doubly vaccinated. Those who are eligible will be given a booster dose as a precaution.
In the upcoming Assembly elections, 690 constituencies will to polls in five states. The ECI has stated that there are 18.43 crore voters in the five states, of which 8.55 crore are women voters. 24.9 lakh people are first-time voters, of which 11.4 lakh are women. The number of polling stations have been increased by 16 per cent compared to the 2017 Assembly elections.
There will be 1,620 polling stations manned by women staff. Postal ballot facility will be available for senior citizens (80+), PWDs with disability certificates, and those affected with COVID-19.