Schedule for Assembly polls to be announced today

The Election Commission will today announce the schedule for assembly elections in five states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.

The poll schedule was finalised at a meeting of the Commission chaired by Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and two Election Commissioners H S Brahma and Nasim Zaidi, where other top EC officials were also present.

According to sources, the assembly elections in the poll- bound states will be staggered starting from the second half of November and end by the first week of December.

The results are likely to be declared by the first week of December as tenures of assemblies in four states ends in December and a new assembly has to be elected before that.

While polls to elect the 70-member Delhi Assembly, 200- member Rajasthan assembly and 40-member Mizoram assembly are expected to be in a single phase, those in naxal-affected Chhattisgarh is likely to be held in phases due to the availability of security forces.

Chhattisgarh has to elect a new 90-member state assembly while Madhya Pradesh has to elect 230-member state assembly.

The tenure of the current Madhya Pradesh assembly assembly ends on December 12, Mizoram on December 15 and Delhi assembly on December 17, while that of Rajasthan assembly ends on December 31 and Chhattisgarh on January 4 next year.

During the last assembly polls in 2008, elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Delhi were held in a single phase, while that of Chhatisgarh was held in two phases.

Sources said around 60,000 security forces would be deployed in the five states to ensure smooth and peaceful polling.