The Election Commission of India (EC) on Thursday denied any kind of "bias" in announcing the dates of the Gujarat Elections that are scheduled on December 1 and December 5.
The votes of the Gujarat polls will be counted on the same day as that of Himachal Pradesh although the EC waited for two weeks to announce the dates of the Gujarat Assembly Election.
"The Election Commission's impartiality is a proud legacy. We are 100 per cent impartial," said Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, reported NDTV. He further added that the dates are very much within the schedule.
Earlier today, Congress had accused the top election body of partiality --- of not announcing the dates of the Gujarat Elections along with Himachal Pradesh. The opposition accused the EC of giving more time to PM Narendra Modi to complete his election campaign before the Model Code of Conduct came into place.
On allegations of a delay, Kuma said, "The tenure of the Gujarat assembly is till February 18, so there is still time. There is a 72-day gap between the counting day and the day the Gujarat assembly term gets over," reports NDTV.
Further, Kumar reiterated how several factors must be taken into consideration before rolling out election dates. "...Weather, the date of the last term of the assembly, the tradition of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh results together. We have to balance a lot of things. We are well within time," he said.
The EC on Thursday announced the much-awaited schedule of Gujarat assembly elections.
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The 2022 Assembly Polls in Gujarat are scheduled to be held in two phases.
Voting for 89 seats will take place on Dec 1 while the voting for the rest 93 seats is scheduled on Dec 5.
The Election Commission has also declared that the filing of nominations will begin on Nov 5 and will end on Nov 14 in the first phase. The second phase of nomination filing will be held between Nov 10-17.
The counting of votes for all 182 assembly seats in Gujarat will be on Dec 8.
Withdrawal of candidature will be allowed till Nov 17 for 89 seats in 1st phase and till Nov 21 for 93 seats in 2nd phase.
(with PTI inputs)
