EC announces Maharashtra, Haryana poll dates highlights: By-elections in 64 constituencies on Oct 21, results on Oct 24

Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra will be held on October 21 and the results will be declared on October 24, chief election commissioner Sunil Arora announced on Saturday. While the term of incumbent BJP government in Haryana ends on November 2, the BJP-Shiv Sena Maharashtra Legislative Assembly’s tenure concludes on November 9. In Maharashtra, the Congress and NCP have already figured a seat-sharing plan, the parties will fight about 123-125 seats each and leave 41 for smaller allies, said Congress’s Prithviraj Chavan. Depending on consensus between the parties, the seats may be swapped, the Congress leader added. In Haryana, the Manohar Lal Khattar’s government kicked off its poll campaign for the assembly elections on August 18. The Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) are the major opposition parties in the state.The EC will shortly announce poll dates for the two states. HIGHLIGHTS:

1:06 pm IST

5.61% increase in polling booths in Maharashtra

Up from 90,403 in 2014, the number of poll booths where people can cast their vote in Maharashtra has gone up to 95,473, reflecting an increase of 5.61%.

1:01 pm IST

19.58% increase in polling booths in Haryana

A total of 19,425 polling booths will be set up for people to cast their vote in Haryana. There has been an increase of 19.58% of polling stations, the number of station was 16,244 back in 2014.

12:46 pm IST

1.82 crore voters in Haryana, 8.95 crore in Maharashtra

As per Election Commission data, there are 1,82,98,714 voters in Haryana, of which 1,81,91,228 are general electors and 1,07,486 are service voters.

In Maharashtra, there are 8,95,62,706 voters, of which 8,94,46,211 are general electors and 1,16,495 are service voters.

12:36 pm IST

64 by-elections in other states

By-elections in 64 constituencies across Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Votes will be polled on October 21 and the results will be declared on October 24, the Election Commission said.

12:27 pm IST

Poll results on October 24

The results of polls in both Haryana and Maharashtra will be declared on October 24, announced chief election commissioner Sunil Arora.

12:25 pm IST

Maharashtra, Haryana assembly elections to held on October 21

The Election Commission has announced that assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra will be held on October 21. The issue of notification deadline for Maharashtra and Haryana is September 27, while the last date of filing nomination is October 4 and the last date to withdraw nomination is October 7, announced chief election commissioner Sunil Arora.

12:21 pm IST

Special security for Maoist-affected areas

Special security arrangements will be made for Maoist-affected areas in Gadchiroli and Gondia in Maharashtra, the Election Commission announced.

12:16 pm IST

EC assures all stakeholders of the quality of EVMs

The Election Commission of India assured all stakeholders in of the quality of EVMs during assembly elections in both Maharashtra and Haryana.

12:14 pm IST

Use environmental-friendly material, urges EC to candidates

The Election Commission on Saturday appealed to party candidates in both Haryana and Maharshtra to use environmental-friendly material while campaigning for polls.

12:13 pm IST

Each candidate can spend up to ₹28 lakh on poll expenditure: EC

The upper limit for expenditure on the election campaign is ₹28 lakh for each candidate, chief Sunil Arora announced.

Two special expenditure observers will be sent to Maharashtra. In addition, Income Tax officials will be present

12:10 pm IST

6 months after Lok Sabha polls, Haryana, Maharashtra ready for state elections

After 6 months of Lok Sabha elections, both Maharashtra and Haryana seemed sound and prepared for conducting state assembly elections, said chief election commissioner Sunil Arora at a media briefing.

12:02 pm IST

EC press conference begins

The Election Commission has begun addressing the media; Haryana, Maharashtra poll schedule to be announced.

11:52 am IST

Former Union minister Kuamri Selja to lead Congress in Haryana

Former Union minister Kuamri Selja was named the Congress state unit head in Haryana earlier in September.

The Congress’s main poll planks in the 2019 Haryana elections will lack of employment, economic slowdown and non-performance of the state government, said Selja.

11:45 am IST

Congress-NCP seat sharing plan in Maharashtra

The Congress and NCP have come up with a seat-sharing formula already. Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan recently said that the parties will fight about 123-125 seats each and leave 41 for smaller allies. The two parties may later also swap seats based on consensus, Chavan added.

11:40 am IST

Current seat-wise break-up in Haryana

The Haryana assembly has 90 seats, of which BJP won 47 in 2014 and for the first time formed government on its own since Haryana was carved out of Punjab on November 1, 1966.

While the Congress has 15 seats in the Haryana house, the INLD bagged 19, BSP has one, SAD has one, HJC has two and there are five independents.

11:35 am IST

Current seat-wise break-up in Maharashtra

In the 2014 state assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party with 122 seats and the Shiv Sena, which also fought separately, secured 63.

Apart from Sena-BJP, in the outgoing Maharashtra house the Congress 42 and Nationalist Congress Party 41 and others 20.

11:30 am IST

Haryana, Maharashtra poll dates to be announced today

At noon today, the Election Commission of India will announce the dates of elections due in Haryana and Maharashtra this year.