(Image source from: NDTV.com)

EC To Announce Poll Dates For Himachal Pradesh Today, Gujarat Soon:- According to sources in the poll panel, the dates for Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections are likely to be announced today by the Election Commission.

A press conference at 4 pm at the Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi, will be addressed by the Election Commission. The dates for another election-bound state, Gujarat will be announced later, may be possibly next week. As the term of the current legislative assembly ends in the third week of January, Gujarat may go to polls in December, indicated the poll panel recently.

(Video Source: ABP News)

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A K Jyoti has said that in more than 50,000 booths in Gujarat, the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system will be used. Earlier this year, the VVPAT system was first used in Goa polls. Jyoti had said that to tally the number of slips with the votes cast, the paper slips would be counted at a single booth in each of the 182 constituencies. Moreover, all-women polling stations in Gujarat in all assembly segments, would be introduced by the poll panel for the first time.

To assess poll preparedness, a team of Election Commission officials headed by the CEC was on a visit to Gujarat recently. Jyoti in response to a query on media reports and some politicians claiming that polls were going to be held in December, said “Elections will have to be held in December as the term of the current Gujarat assembly is coming to end in the third week of January next”.

In reply to a question regarding a demand raised by some political parties that at least 10 per cent of total VVPAT slips should be counted, Jyoti said “After Goa, this will be for the first time that we will be conducting the entire election using VVPAT here. This is a challenge for us too”.

He stated that candidates who have some grievances can ask for counting of slips of a particular booth, according to procedure and the decision on it would be taken by the poll panel.

Meanwhile, the term of the current Himachal Pradesh Assembly ends next month. Hence, in November, the election dates for Himachal Pradesh polls are likely to be in the coming month.

SUPRAJA