Maharashtra and Haryana Election Dates Updates 2019: The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will highlight issues like farm crisis, economic slowdown and unemployment in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, said NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.
Exuding confidence in both Maharashtra and Haryana governments, Home Minister Amit Shah said that they have helped the states in reaching "new heights of development and good governance".
"I call upon the workers of these states to bring the achievements of their governments to the people and form our governments again with a strong majority," said Shah.
The BJP's election campaign in the states of Haryana and Maharashtra would centre around its move to revoke Article 370 as the party has no achievements to show in the face of rampant unemployment and economic slowdown, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said on Saturday.
Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said Maharashtra Assembly elections will be contested by the BJP and the Shiv Sena jointly and an announcement on the seat sharing formula will be made by Sunday (22 September).
Chief Election Commissioner also announced the by-election dates for 64 constituencies in 18 states. The election in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh will be held on 21 October and counting of votes will take place on 24 October.
For both Maharashtra and Haryana, the notification will be issued on 27 September. The polling for all 378 seats will be held in a single phase on 21 October and the counting of votes will take place three days later on 24 October.
The Election Commission is set to announce dates of Assembly election in Maharashtra and Haryana on Saturday. The poll panel has convened a press conference for 12 pm.
With the announcement at noon, the election process will officially begin in the two northern Indian states, and the Model Code of Conduct will come into force as soon as the poll panel's press conference concludes. The MCC puts into place certain restrictions on political parties, candidates and the ruling government to ensure free and fair elections. Among other things, the MCC makes it difficult for the ruling dispensation to announce freebies and schemes that may affect voter sentiments. This is to deny the ruling party the opportunity to sway voters by virtue of their position, something the opposition parties cannot achieve.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra Assembly ends on 9 November, the 90-member Haryana Assembly will expire on 2 November.
A poll panel meet was reportedly convened on Friday to take a final call on Assembly poll dates. The meeting was attended by the officials of the two state Election Commissions.
According to reports, the election in Haryana will be conducted in a single phase, while in Maharashtra in two phases.
On 19 September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the 'Mahajanadesh' rally at Nashik, launched the BJP's campaign for the Maharashtra election and heaped praises on the Devendra Fadnavis-led government.
Though the BJP does not have a majority in the state, the prime minister said that Fadnavis ran a stable government that was committed to Maharashtra's interests.
"Fadnavis provided a stable government with a push for the development of the state. He worked with complete dedication. It is now Maharashtra's turn to make use of his leadership qualities," Modi said.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, along with election commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra, earlier in September, had visited Maharashtra to assess the ongoing poll preparations.
In 2014, EC had announced the dates for the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections on 12 September. The voting had taken place on 15 October and results were announced by 19 October.
Congress lost its government in Maharashtra in the 2014 polls and the BJP came into power in alliance with the Shiv Sena. This year, Congress has formed an alliance with Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
In Haryana, the BJP had managed to get from 47 seats in 2014, decimating the Congress and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
With inputs from agencies
