The Hindu : Front Page : Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana go to the polls in February

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Saturday, Dec 18, 2004

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Front Page

Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana go to the polls in February

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 17. Elections to the Bihar and Jharkhand Assemblies will be held in three phases in February 2005 and Haryana will have a day's polling, the Election Commission announced today. While the whole of Haryana will go to the polls on February 3 along with the extremist-infested areas of Bihar and Jharkhand, elections to the remaining Assembly segments of the two States will be spread over February 15 and 23. Counting of votes will be taken up on February 27 and the election process will end by March 5.

The Chief Election Commissioner, T.S. Krishnamurthy, said the model code of conduct comes into effect along with his announcement of the election schedule. The code, he said, was applicable to the three States. It would be binding on the Central Government too vis-a-vis any announcement relating to Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana.

The terms of the Assemblies of Bihar and Jharkhand are slated to expire on March 6, and that of Haryana on March 8. In all, elections would be held to 243 Assembly segments in Bihar, 90 in Haryana and 81 in Jharkhand.

As for the phase-wise break-up of constituencies in the two States where polling is to be staggered, the CEC said a separate notification would be issued. The extremist-infested areas of Bihar and Jharkhand would go to the polls in the first phase. The schedule had been drawn up after taking into account the Government holidays, school examinations and the time needed to move security forces. The Commission had decided not to allow any photography — still or video — inside polling stations. It would deploy one general observer in each Assembly segment and at least one expenditure observer in every district instead of the earlier practice of deploying two general observers and one expenditure observer in each district.

Officials employed in the State would be assigned areas through a computerised random selection to ensure impartiality.

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