UP will vote in 7 phases during Feb

Results on March 4; single-phase polls in Punjab,Uttarakhand,Manipur,Goa

The Election Commission today announced a seven-phase schedule spread over February 2012 for Assembly elections in the politically key state of Uttar Pradesh. Punjab,Uttarakhand,Manipur and Goa will have single-phase elections between January and March.

Counting of votes will be held on March 4.

Announcing the poll schedule,Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi and Election Commissioners V S Sampath and H S Brahma said Uttar Pradesh with 403 Assembly seats will vote on February 4 (60 seats),February 8 (55 seats),February 11 (59 seats),February 15 (56 seats),February 19 (56 seats),February 23 (49 seats) and February 28 (68 seats).

Manipur with 60 constituencies will be the first off the block,voting on January 28. Punjab (117 seats) and Uttarakhand (70 seats) will go to polls on January 30. In Goa (40 seats),votes will be cast on March 3.

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The model code of conduct comes into effect immediately, Quraishi said.

He announced elaborate arrangements for the conduct of free and fair polls. There would be general observers,election expenditure observers,micro observers and district-level monitoring committees,he said.

To deal with the issue of paid news,monitoring committees have been set up at district,state and commission level. Necessary instructions have been issued, Quraishi said.

Comprehensive instructions have been issued for the purpose of effective monitoring of election expenditure of candidates,including formation of flying squads,video surveillance teams,involvement of investigation directorates of Income Tax.

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Terms of the Assemblies in the five states were to get over in the first half of 2012 Uttarakhand (March 12),Punjab (March 14),Manipur (March 15),Uttar Pradesh (May 20) and Goa (June 14).

The Congress-led UPA government hurried with pre-poll announcements to avoid the model code of conduct but the spread of elections in Uttar Pradesh (till February-end) and Goa (March 3) has already led to questions about the Railway Budget proposals that are to be placed in Parliament before conclusion of elections in these two states.

To a query on whether announcement of new rail projects in poll-bound states amounts to violation of the model code of conduct,Brahma said: Normally,yes. It will be violative (of the code of conduct). Let us see.

Quraishi said: We have done our job. The Budget is their (governments) responsibility.

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He said polling parties will be formed randomly through special software. Three-stage randomisation will be adopted to ensure that they do not know in advance at which polling booths they are deployed.

The commission has modified the format for filing of affidavits regarding criminal backgrounds,assets,liabilities and educational qualifications of candidates to include a summary sheet this time. It has also banned the use of religious places for election campaigns.