Assembly Election 2019: Maharashtra, Haryana to vote on Oct 21; counting on 24

New Delhi, Sep 21: Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will be held on October 21, the Election Commission announced on Saturday. Counting of votes in both the states will be held on October 24, announced Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora. The two states will have a single phase of voting.

This is the first set of assembly elections since the Lok Sabha polls in May where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to power with a thumping majority.

Addressing the media, Arora said, "Every new election, there are new insights and learnings for the future."

"Both Haryana and Maharashtra are sound-fitting in terms of poll preparation. All types are arrangements are being made for the voters. Candidates will require to fill all the columns in their poll form. The Election Commission is privileged to play a role in democracy," Arora said.

"The 5-year term of the Legislative Assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra expires on 2nd November and 9th November," the CEC told reporters.

Rs 28 lakh on poll expense on each candidate

"There is a Rs 28 lakh-cap on poll expense on each candidate. We appeal the candidates to use environment-friendly materials. We reassure all the stakeholders about the quality of electronic voting machines," Arora said.

Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019

Maharashtra, which has a total of 288 assembly seats, will see a direct contest between the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena combine and Congress-NCP alliance.

BJP is the single largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly. In the previous election, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena agreed to support the BJP to form the government in a post-poll arrangement. BJP-Shiv Sena and Congress-NCP had all contested the election separately in 2014.

This time, Congress-NCP have entered into a pre-poll alliance; while Shiv Sena and BJP are still holding parleys for a seat-sharing arrangement.

Poll-Bound Maharashtra has added nearly eight lakh voters since the April-May 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The overall increase in the number of voters in Maharashtra compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls is 7,69,165, said an official of the Election Commission of India.

Haryana Assembly Election 2019

The 90-member Haryana assembly, the ruling BJP will aim to fend off Congress to secure a second term. Buoyed by the results of the recent Lok Sabha polls when it had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats from Haryana, the BJP's preparations for Assembly polls are already in full swing.

In the 2014 Haryana Assembly polls, BJP had won 47 seats, with Congress being reduced to only 15 seats and former chief minister's Om Prakash Chautala's ​Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) securing win in only 19 seats.

While the term of Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the Haryana assembly expires on November 2. The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect after the announcement of dates.

In 2014, election dates for Maharashtra and Haryana were announced on September 20. Voting had taken place on October 15. The counting of votes happened on October 19, days ahead of Diwali.

Bypolls Declared in 64 Seats

The Election Commission also announced bypolls in 64 seats, which fall in Arunachal Pradesh (1), Assam (4), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (1), Gujarat (4), Himachal (2), Karnataka (15), Kerala (5), Madhya Pradesh (1), Meghalaya (1), Odisha (1), Puducherry (1), Punjab (4), Rajasthan (2), Sikkim (3), Tamil Nadu (2), Telengana (1), Uttar Pradesh (11)