Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. PTI
New Delhi: Not Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, but recent Morbi bridge collapse and other multiple factors delayed the polling dates of Gujarat Assembly elections 2022, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday.
Countering the allegations of “unfairness” by the Congress because of the delay in Gujarat Assembly elections 2022, CEC Rajiv Kumar said: “Recently a very tragic incident occurred in Gujarat, the Morbi Bridge collapse – one of the reasons why we delayed. Also, there was state mourning in the state yesterday.”
The CEC also said “there has actually been no delay in the Gujarat election announcement” as there are still 110 days left for the term of the state assembly.
Newly elected non-Gandhi Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday (1 November) claimed that Gujarat Assembly polls 2022 were delayed so that he can inaugurate “more bridges like the one that fell in Morbi”.
Addressing a gathering during ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Telangana, the Congress president said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is touring Gujarat for last six days. Polls schedule for Himachal Pradesh is released but the poll schedule for Gujarat isn’t released as he has to inaugurate many more bridges there like the one that collapsed in Morbi.”
His remarks came two days after the British-era ‘hanging bridge’ in Morbi collapsed killing 135 people and injuring more than 100 people.
CEC Rajiv Kumar’s response to Congress’ three monkey emojis tweet
Ahead of the announcement of the Gujarat Elections 2022 dates, Congress in a tweet posted the three monkey emojis, attacking the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The opposition parties have been hitting out at the ECI since it announced the polling schedule for Himachal Pradesh last month and said that the counting of votes will take place on 8 December. They raised questions as to why the Gujarat election schedule announcement was delayed.
Responding to the claims, CEC Kumar today said that there has been a tradition of counting the results together. Also, there is a difference between the last days when the assemblies of both the states – Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat – will expire and also a difference between the date of the model code of conduct.
The CEC said that there will be a 72 days’ gap between the counting of the result and the expiry of the assembly in Gujarat.
Further responding to claims of fairness in the poll outcome due to the alleged delay, the CEC said, “If we say that our results are not correct, then it will be an insult to the people of this democracy.”
“No matter how much I try to make you understand, what’s important are the actions and our correct results. Results have shown that those who are critical got surprising results,” CEC Kumar said, adding that there are many parties who write lengthy letters to them complaining against EVM and after their candidates win, those complaints stop and the results get accepted.
Gujarat Assembly elections 2022 dates
Polling on 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be conducted in two phases. The first phase of voting will be held on 1 December, while the second phase polling will be on 5 December.
The counting of votes will be held on 8 December, on the same day Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls results will be declared.
In the first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls, voting will be held for 89 constituencies and the second phase for 93 constituencies.
Also Read: Gujarat Elections 2022: Polling in 2 phases on December 1 and 5, results on December 8
A total of 3,24,422 new voters will be able to exercise their voting rights for the first in the Gujarat Assembly elections.
This year, there will be 3,24,422 first time voters in Gujarat and total the state election will have total 51,782 polling stations.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.