UP will have seven-phase polls starting from Feb 4: EC

New Delhi: The Election Commission today announced dates for the upcoming polls in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur. Firstpost reporter Danish Raza, reports from the Election Commission press conference that the EC plans to set up committees at state and district level to monitor paid news during the election coverage. The Election Commission also announced that IT department would monitor spending. Announcing the schedule for the elections, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) would be used in all polling booths, adding that photo identity cards would be mandatory for all the voters. Assembly polls in Punjab and Uttarakhand would begin on 30 January. Polls in Uttar Pradesh would take place in seven phases starting from 4 February to 8, 11, 15, 19, 23 and 28. Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab will have single-phase elections [caption id=“attachment_164994” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi flanked by Election Commissioners V S Sampath (R) and H S Brahma addressing at a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday to announce the dates for the Assembly elections in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. PTI”]  [/caption] Election date for Goa is 3 March and Manipur will go to polls on 28 January. Punjab and Uttarakhand will go to polls on 30 January. Counting of votes in all five states will begin on March 4, said Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi. As usual all eyes are on the Uttar Pradesh elections where Congress will try hard to make some impact while Mayawati and her party, BSP hope to stay in power. Model code of conduct is applicable in all poll bound states from today. “There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, churches, temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election propaganda,” said SY Quraishi, chief election commissioner. For the first time the candidates will be required to open a separate bank account and incur their election expenses from that account. The Commission has opened a toll free number 1905 where any citizen can complain about malpractices. At 403, UP has the maximum number of assembly constituencies followed by Punjab (117) and Uttarakhand (70). Results of the polls in all the five states will be announced on March. The upcoming elections are going to be the litmus test for the Parliamentary polls scheduled for 2014.