The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections.
Maharashtra elections will be held in a single phase. According to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, voting will take place on November 20, and the votes will be counted on November 23.
The Election Commission said that Wednesday was chosen for voting to avoid urban apathy.
Jharkhand assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases. Phase 1 of voting will be held on November 13 and second phase on November 20, along with Maharashtra.
The current term of the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly will end on November 26, whereas the term of the Jharkhand assembly, which has 81 members, ends on January 5 next year.
Speaking on the ongoing row over the Haryana assembly election results, CEC Kumar questioned TV channels' tendency to show early trends within 15-30 minutes of the start of vote counting.
On the Congress' charges, Kumar said that the poll panel would respond to all 20 complaints on electronic voting machines (EVMs) individually, fact by fact.
— 288 Assembly Constituencies (234 are General, 25 ST constituencies and SC 29 constituencies)
— 9.63 crore eligible voters in Maharashtra. 4.97 crore males and 4.66 crore female voters.
— There are 1.85 crore young voters, of which 20.93 lakh are first-time voters.
— Over one lakh polling stations.
Main parties
— Ruling Mahayuti Alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP
— The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress.
— 81 Assembly Constituencies (General are 44, 28 STs and 9 SCs)
— Over 2.6 crore strong electorate ready to vote, says EC.
— There are a total of 2.6 crore voters in Jharkhand, of which 1.29 crore are females and 1.31 crore are male voters
— There will be over 29,000 polling stations with 1,271 women managed and 48 Persons with Disabilities (PwD) managed.
— Voters aged 85 or above and PwD voters can avail the optional Home Voting facility by filling out Form 12D
— The commission stands steadfast in its resolve to ensure that elections happen in a festive atmosphere with all basic facilities in place for voters.
— The commission urges all voters to step out and take part in the democratic festivities in November.
