With the announcement of the dates of assembly polls by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday, the Model Code of Conduct has been enforced in Uttar Pradesh with immediate effect.
On the pattern of 2017 assembly elections, the ECI has announced a seven-phase poll in Uttar Pradesh commencing from the western districts and concluding in the districts of eastern region of the state.
The polling dates for Uttar Pradesh have been scheduled on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. Counting of votes for all 403 Assembly seats will be taken up on March 10.
There is a minor change in the entire poll process as the duration has been reduced by five days. In 2017, the poll schedule was announced on January 4 and election results were declared on March 11. This time elections have been announced on January 8 and the results will be declared on March 10.
Moreover, in 2017, the first phase of poll commenced from assembly constituency number 1 at Behat in Saharanpur. This time the polling will commence from assembly constituency number 8 at Kairana in Shamli. The district shot into notoriety in 2013 for communal violence leading to migration of Hindu community from the town. Polling in Behat assembly seat will be held in the second phase this time round.
Polling in all nine assembly constituencies of Lucknow district will be held in the fourth phase of election on February 23. The poll notification for the fourth phase will be issued on January 27 and the last date of filing nomination is February 3, scrutiny of nominations will be held on February 4, the last date of withdrawal is February 7 and polling will be held on February 23. In the fourth phase polling will be held in 60 assembly constituencies.
The election process will commence from January 14, with issuance of notification for the first phase starting from western UP on January 14 where polling will be held on February10. In the first phase, 58 assembly constituencies will go to polls spread across 11 districts of Shamli, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Hapur, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Mathura, Agra and Aligarh.
For the first phase poll, filing of nominations will commence from January 14, the last date for filing nominations will be January 21, scrutiny of papers will be held on January 24 and the last date for withdrawal will be January 27.
In the second phase, polling will be held on February 14, and filing of nominations will start from January 21. The last date for filing papers will be January 28, scrutiny will be done on January 29 and the last date for withdrawal will be January 31. A total of 55 assembly constituencies will go to polls in the second phase covering nine districts of Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Budaun and Shahjahanpur.
In the third phase polling to be held on February 20, filing of papers will start from January 25, last date for filing of nominations will be February 1, scrutiny on February 2 and last date for withdrawal will be February 4. A total of 59 assembly constituencies will go to polls in the third phase in 16 districts -- Kasganj, Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur.
In the fourth phase polling will be held on February 23. Filing of nominations will commence from January 27, last date for filing nominations will be February 3, scrutiny will be done on February 4 and last date for withdrawal will be February 7. A total of 60 assembly constituencies of Awadh region will go to polls in this phase covering nine districts including Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Fatehpur and Banda.
In the fifth phase, polling will be held on February 27, filing of papers will start from February 1, last date for filing of nominations will be February 8, scrutiny of papers will be done on February 9 and last date for withdrawal will be February 11. A total of 60 assembly constituencies will go to polls in the fifth phase covering 11 districts of Shravasti, Bahraich, Barabanki, Gonda, Ayodhya, Amethi, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot and Prayagraj.
Similarly, in the sixth phase, polling will be held on March 3, filing of nominations will start from February 4, last date for filing of nominations will be February 11, scrutiny of papers will be done on February 14 and last date for withdrawal will be February 14. In this phase, 57 assembly constituencies will go to polls in 10 districts of Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria and Ballia.
In the seventh and last phase, polling will be held on March 7, filing of papers will commence from February10, last date for filing of nominations will be February 17, scrutiny will be done on February 18 and last date for withdrawal of papers will be February 21. A total of 54 assembly constituencies will go to polls in this phase covering 10 districts of Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra.