The Assembly Elections 2022 dates and schedule were announced by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra with ECs Anup Chandra Pandey and Rajiv Kumar this afternoon. The announcement of the Schedule for General Election and Legislative Assemblies was made in the press conference which was held in Vigyan Bhawan at 3:30 PM January 8.
The polling for the Assembly Elections will be held on the following dates:
- Goa: March 15
- Manipur: March 19
- Uttarakhand: March 23
- Punjab: March 23
- Uttar Pradesh: May 14
“Elections will be held for 403 assembly seats in UP, 117 in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand 60 in Manipur and 40 in Goa”, said Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra.
He further said that until 15th January in the wake of the COVID-19 situation roadshows, bike rallies, cycle rallies will not be allowed. He also said political parties are required to post information on their particular websites about the selected candidates for the polling. It is mandatory for the political parties to put detailed information about the candidate including pending criminal cases (if any), also an appropriate reason behind the selection.
The elections are going to be held amidst the COVID-19 surge. Therefore, the Election Commission of India will be required to implement strict protocols and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to avoid the spread of COVID-19 during elections.
“We aim to conduct Covid-safe elections in five states with maximum voter participation with extensive preparations. All polling stations will be equipped with Covid-mitigation facilities including sanitisers and masks; Also the number of booths have been increased,” he added.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said, “a total of 690 Assembly constituencies in Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab will go to polls this time. For the past two years, the impact of COVID-19 has made conduct of elections difficult. It is our duty to see how to conduct elections safely. The EC has put in place new protocols.”