Two phase Gujarat Assembly polls on Dec 9, 14

The Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14, the Election Commission(EC) announced on Wednesday.

The Commission had already announced that the results for Gujarat polls will be announced along with that of Himachal Pradesh on December 18.

The first phase of the Gujarat election will cover 89 constituencies in 19 districts while the second phase will cover 93 constituencies spread across 14 districts.

The notification for the second phase will be issued on November 20 for remaining 93 assembly seats. Paper trail of votes will be used in all the 50,128 polling stations in the state to ensure transparency, the Chief Election Commission (CEC) AK Joti said.

The voters will be able to see their votes cast through the Voter-Verified Paper Trail Audit (VVPAT) machines.

The ceiling of the expenditure for candidates in ₹28 lakh. A public grievance redressal system has been set up to provide a common platform for all concerns and suggestions for any members of the public. The IT platform will allow citizens to upload pictures and videos if any as well.

CCTV cameras will be set up at sensitive areas along the border, to elections are carried out smoothly, the CEC said.

Wednesday's announcement came after the poll panel faced criticism over the delay in announcing the election schedule in the BJP-ruled state.

It was expected that the EC will announce the Gujarat poll dates on October 12 when it declared the polling schedule for Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh.

Opposition parties alleged that the delay had given the state and central governments more time to announce sops for Gujarat.

With inputs from agencies