The Election Commission on Friday surprisingly did not announce the schedule for the Gujarat Assembly Election along with the dates of Himachal polls. Usually, elections in the two states have always been held simultaneously and results announced on the same date.
The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on February 18 while that of Himachal Pradesh ends on January 8.
The Himachal polls will be held in a single phase on November 12. Results will be announced on December 8. The long gap between voting and counting dates has raised speculation that the Election Commission was keeping a window open to announce elections in Gujarat in between.
During the press briefing, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said no rules were violated and the EC went by the convention set in 2017 when elections to both states were announced separately.
READ | Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election 2022 Schedule Announced By ECI — Check Dates
Kumar cited the weather in Himachal Pradesh as one of the reasons why elections in the states were announced first.
"There is a gap of 40 days between the end of the assemblies of the two states. According to the rules, it should be at least 30 days so that one result doesn't impact the other," the Chief Election Commissioner said.
"There are a number of factors, like weather. We want to hold the Himachal elections before the onset of snow," he further said.
The period for the Model Code of Conduct has also been reduced to 57 days from 70 days.
In 2017, the Himachal Pradesh elections were announced by the EC on October 13, while Gujarat elections were announced on October 25.
In 2017, the Himachal elections were held on November 9. Gujarat had voted in two phases on December 9 and December 14. The results for both states were announced on December 18, 2017.