Why did Election Commission not announce dates for Gujarat assembly polls today?

A major row has erupted over the Election Commission of India’s decision to not announce the dates of Gujarat assembly elections, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.

The Congress alleged that the Gujarat dates were not announced to give the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an opportunity to announce pre-election “sops” to the people.

“The ECI has announced the date for counting of votes for Himachal Pradesh on December 8. From today, election code of conduct is in place in Himachal Pradesh but not in Gujarat. This is done so that the BJP has enough time to announce pre-elections sops for the people,” Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.

The ECI on Friday announced the schedule only for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls. The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on February 18, 2023, while the term of the Himachal Pradesh assembly will end on January 8, 2023.

Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held on November 12 and the counting of votes will be on December 8.

Also Read:Assembly Election 2022: Check key dates for polls in Himachal Pradesh

This is not the first time that the ECI has taken such a stand. In 2017, the poll body had announced elections in Himachal Pradesh on October 12, while for Gujarat the announcement was made on October 25. Back then, the Himachal Pradesh polls were held in a single phase, while the Gujarat elections were held in two phases on December 9 and December 14.

When asked at the press conference today on why he did not announce the Gujarat election dates, Kumar said the commission went by the convention set in 2017 when elections to both states were announced separately.

AK Joti, who was the then chief election commissioner, had said that the delay in announcing the Gujarat dates was to ensure the state did not have to endure a long period under the model code of conduct as there was no justification for prolonged period of imposition of the code.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) social media convener and chairman of Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation, Y Satish Reddy, took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the development and said on Twitter, “Election commissions schedule or Modi’s selection commissions? #Election Commission tells #Gujarat and #Himachal polls are separated as gap between them is just 40 days. But the gap was 60 days in the case of #Goa & #UP, yet they were clubbed.”

He also shared a copy of the ECI press statement dated January 8, 2022 when the election agency announced the schedule for assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.