Will Union Budget Violate Election Code Of Conduct? EC To Examine

The Election commission will examine whether the Union government can present its budget on February 1, three days before the voting to the five states begins.

Chief Election Commissioner said that one political party has asked that the government be disallowed from sharing its budget before the elections are held.

The commission announced election dates for five states ,which begins on February 4 and ends on March 8.  Counting for all five states will be held on March 11.

The cabinet had decided to merge the railway budget with the annual budget, ending a nearly century-long practice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that advancing the date of budget presentation to February 1would help getting funds authorised for different sectors at the start of the financial year on April 1. Usually, budget is presented in the last working day in February. But opposition parties have complained that this will give the government an opportunity to announce populist schemes that could sway the voters, violating the model code of conduct that kicked in as soon as elections were announced.

The high-stakes assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8, while Punjab and Goa will go to polls together on February 4, Uttarakhand on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8, with counting to be held on March 11.

Announcing the poll schedule for five states, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the seven-phased UP Assembly polls for 403 constituencies will be held on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8.

He said over 16 crore people will participate in these polls for a total of 690 constituencies in five states, for which the Commission has set up 1.85 lakh polling stations, which are 15 per cent more than those set up in 2012 polls.

The CEC flanked by the two Election Commissioners A K Joti and O P Rawat announced that the poll process will commence with the issue of notification on January 11 for Punjab and Goa polls where candidates can start filing their nominations.

"The Model Code of Conduct will come into immediate effect and will apply on political parties and state governments concerned, besides the Central government in terms of announcements in these states," Zaidi told reporters.