New Delhi: Setting the ball rolling for elections to five state Assemblies -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram -- the Election Commission on Saturday announced the poll dates, bringing the model code of conduct into immediate effect.
At a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said elections in Chhattisgarh would be held in two phases while the other four states would hold single-phase elections.
"In the first phase, in 18 constituencies of the southern part of Chhattisgarh, which are Naxal-affected areas, the elections would be held on November 12," he said.
The second phase for elections in 72 constituencies will be held on November 20, while Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram polls will be held on November 28. Rajasthan and Telangana will go to polls together on December 7 in a single phase.
The term of Mizoram’s 50-member Assembly expires on December 15, 2018, Chhattisgarh’s term, comprising 90 members, ends on January 5, 2019, and the tenure of the Madhya Pradesh 230-member House expires on January 7, 2019. The 200-member Rajasthan Assembly term expires on January 20, 2019.
On Telangana, Rawat said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao recently dissolved the House to avoid a possible clubbing of Assembly polls with Lok Sabha elections.
Rawat also informed the media that for these polls, the latest Mark 3 EVM machines, manufactured by public sector Bharat Electronics and ECIL will be used in the five states.
"The First Level Check of EVMs and VVPATs has been completed in the presence of representatives of political parties. A two-stage randomization of EVMs and VVPATs will also be done," the EC said in a release.
The EC further said that VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) will be used along with EVMs in all polling stations of all the Assembly constituencies of poll-going states to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election, for which a voter awareness programme is already underway.
Recognising fake news as a "serious challenge", the EC said it would "keep an eye on the instances of Fake news in Social Media. If any such incident of Fake News comes into knowledge, which may affect the conduct of election by hampering the level playing field or vitiate atmosphere during elections, suitable action will be taken," it said, adding that "it will also be the responsibility of Social Media companies to take stringent measures to check Fake News on their platform."
Earlier in the day, there was some confusion as the EC had announced the timing of press conference for announcing the dates at 12.30 pm. Later, the time was changed to 3.30 pm, inviting flak from the Congress which alleged that this was due to the ongoing public rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, in his tweets, questioned if there was a link between the change in timing and Modi's speech in Rajasthan.
