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Polls in five states from Feb 4 to March 8, UP election in seven phases

by IBNS 03 Jan 2017, 08:29 pm

New Delhi, Jan 4 (IBNS) : The Election Commission on Wednesday announced dates for the Assembly polls in five states between February 4 and March 8 stipulating a seven-phase polling for Uttar Pradesh, the biggest of all with 403 seats.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said elections in Goa (40) and Punjab (117) will be held simultaneously on a single day on February 4, while  Uttarakhand with 70 seats will also witness single-day polling on February 15.

The northeastern state of Manipur (60) will go to polls in two phases-on March 4 and March 8, while in  Uttar PradeshAssembly elections will be held in seven phases for about 25 days.

The UP polls will be held  on February 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27 and on March 4 and 8.

The counting of votes in all five states is scheduled for March 11.

Zaidi said a total of 690 Assembly states will be contested  in the five states and nearly 16 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise.

A total of 1.85 lakh polling stations will be set up to enable them to exercise their franchise.

The limit for expenses for candidates is Rs 28 lakh for UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Rs 20 lakh for Manipur and Goa, the CEC said.

He said that in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur voters lists will be published on January 12, Uttarakhand on January 10, and in Goa and Punjab on January 5.