The Hindu : Front Page : Two-phase Assembly polls in A.P., Orissa on April 16, 23

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Two-phase Assembly polls in A.P., Orissa on April 16, 23

J. Balaji

It will be a one-day exercise in Sikkim on April 30

NEW DELHI: The Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa will be held in two phases on April 16 and 23. It will be a one-day exercise in Sikkim on April 30.

In the first phase, 154 constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 70 in Orissa will go to the polls on April 16. The other 140 constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 77 in Orissa will be covered on April 23.

The Assembly poll in the three States will be held along with the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission said on Monday.

Similarly, Assembly by-elections in seven constituencies in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Mizoram and Nagaland will be held along with the poll in the Lok Sabha constituencies, of which these are segments. The Assembly constituencies are Jamtara (Jharkhand); Bidar (Karnataka); South Tuipai (Mizoram); and Dimapur-III, Chizami, Tizit and Tuensang Sadar-II, all four ST in Nagaland.

Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami said the tenure of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly would expire on May 30, of the Orissa House on June 29 and of the 32-member Sikkim Assembly on May 23, and the poll dates were fixed keeping that in mind. The Commission recommendations would be forwarded to the Governors for issuing notifications (under Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951).

Single voter in a Gujarat booth

PTI reports:

A polling booth in Gujarat’s Gir forests will have just a single voter. The polling station is located at Banej in Junagadh district’s Gir forests, home to the Asiatic lion, Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami told reporters while announcing the Lok Sabha polls schedule.

“Banej is part of the Una Assembly segment,” Junagadh Collector Ashwin Kumar said.

The lone voter is the priest of a temple there. There was only one voter from the area in the Assembly elections late last year.

Gujarat goes to the polls on April 30.

In Chhattisgarh, one polling station had just two voters while three booths in Arunachal Pradesh had three voters each.

Poll date clashes with Bihu

Guwahati Special Correspondent reports:

Three political parties in Assam have expressed reservation over the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections in the State as the first phase on April 16 falls during Rongali Bihu. The festival also marks the beginning of the new Assamese calendar year.

The Asom Gana Parishad, the State committee of the CPI(M) and the Assam United Democratic Front have asked the Election Commission to reschedule the poll dates.

They said the polling would prevent a large number of voters, polling personnel, party workers and candidates from taking part in the festival.

The Election Commission has announced a two-phase poll for Assam — the first on April 16 and the second on April 23. Assam has 14 Lok Sabha seats.

The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Pradesh Congress Committee are likely to discuss the poll dates and come out with their formal reactions, sources in the two parties said.

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