EC to reveal polling dates for UP, Manipur, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand today

The Election Commission is likely to announce the polling dates for five states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa — on Wednesday at 12 pm.

The EC will conduct a press conference at 12:00 pm where Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi will announce a list of dates including the last date of filing nominations, phase and dates of voting and the date of counting.

The terms of the legislative assembly in Uttar Pradesh is going to end on May 27, Uttarakhand is due to expire on March 26 while that of Goa, Manipur and Punjab expires on March 18.

The poll schedule comes amid the split of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP and the BSP are looking to gain from the internal tussle between Mulayam and Akhilesh Yadav.

On Tuesday, the Election Commission  held a meeting with Chief Electoral Officers of the poll-bound states to finetune  arrangements. The law and order situation in Manipur due to road blockade by some Naga groups was the focus of attention of the Commission in the meeting.

At the meeting, the assessment of the law and order situation, deployment of polling personnel, safety and electronic voting machines and strict implementation of the model code of conduct also came up for discussion. In its report to the EC, the Union Home Ministry has conveyed that ground situation in Manipur following the blockade of National Highway 2 by United Naga Council and the state government's alleged "failure" to resume normal traffic even after 60 days.

In a letter sent to the cabinet secretary and chief secretaries of the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab, the Commission has compiled a set of instructions issued in the past to drive home the point that model code should be implemented effectively with the announcement of poll schedule.