New Delhi: The Election Commission announced the dates of assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana on Saturday. In a press conference convened by the poll panel, Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Sunil Arora briefed media and said 90 seats of Haryana and 288 of Maharashtra will go to polls in a single phase on October 21 (Monday). The counting will be done October 24. Addressing the reporters, Chief Election Commissioner said that September 27 will be the issue of notification, last date of nomination will be on October 4, Scrutiny on October 5, and last date for withdrawal of application is October 7.

Haryana has strength of 90 seats out of which 17 are reserved for SC and none for ST. While Maharashtra Assembly has strength of 288 seats out of 29 are reserved for SC and 25 for ST.
Haryana has 1.82 crore registered voters out of which 1.07 lakh are service voters and Maharashtra has 8.94 crore voters of which 1.16 lakh are service voters. Addressing the media, CEC Sunil Arora announced the dates and said, "Every new election, there are new insights and learnings for the future."

While addressing the media, Arora also said that the Election Commission is privileged to play a role in democracy and that both Haryana and Maharashtra are sound-fitting in terms of poll preparation. All types are arrangements are being made for the voters, CEC assured. "Special security arrangements will be made for Maoist-affected areas in Gadchiroli and Gondia in Maharashtra," the Election Commission announced.

With the announcements of election dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force, which means the current state governments will now not be able to make any fresh announcements or roll out new schemes. The Election Commission on Saturday appealed to party candidates in both Haryana and Maharshtra to use environmental-friendly material while campaigning for polls.

Watch | Haryana, Maharashtra assembly polls 2019 to be held on October 21



The tenure of 288-member Maharashtra assembly will end on November 9, while the term that of the 90-member Haryana assembly will expire on November 2. In the outgoing Maharashtra house the BJP had 122, Shiv Sena 63, Congress 42 and Nationalist Congress Party 41 and others 20.

Besides, CEC also announced the dates for by-polls and several states. Election Commission announced, "By-elections to 64 constituencies across Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & Uttar Pradesh, to be held on Oct 21; counting on Oct 24."

Earlier, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee had urged masses to pitch in ideas for its manifesto for the elections. The BJP came to power in the state in the last Assembly elections. On the other hand, in Maharashtra, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested 2014 state Assembly elections separately after they failed to arrive at a seat-sharing formula. However, they formed the government in alliance after the elections as none of the parties was able to secure a majority on its own.

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.

BJP had managed to get from 47 seats in 2014, decimating the Congress and Om Prakash Chautala's INLD. In 2014, Jharkhand Assembly Elections were held in five phases spread across November and December.

(with inputs from agencies)