The Election Commission of India has announced the assembly poll dates for Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh today. The assembly elections in these 5 poll-bound states will take place in 7 phases from February 10 to March 7. Uttar Pradesh will go to poll in 7 phases from February 10 to March 7. Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote on February 14 and Manipur will vote on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Amid the spike in Covid-19 cases, ECI has imposed several curbs on campaigning this year. One of the biggest decisions that has been taken is the ban of roadshows, rallies, processions till January 15. Along with this, no physical rallies, nukkad sabha, public meet will be allowed between 8 PM – 8 AM. No victory processions will be allowed after results. Only 2 persons will be allowed with the winning candidate and only 5 people will be allowed in door to door campaign.
EC has also mandated that all election officials and employees will be considered as frontline workers and will be fully vaccinated with precautionary dose.
Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh are slated to go for Assembly elections this year. 403 Assembly seats are slated to go to polls in Uttar Pradesh, 70 seats are up for grabs in Uttarakhand, 117 seats in Punjab, 40 seats in Goa and 60 seats in Manipur. Out of these 5 poll-bound states, the BJP is in power in 4 states including Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. Leaders from all the political parties are campaigning aggressively for months to register their win in the upcoming polls.
