NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday said that there were "multiple factors" leading to the delay in the announcement of the Gujarat Assembly polls, adding that the recent Morbi bridge collapse tragedy was one of them.
The Gujarat Assembly elections are all set to take place in two phases on December 1 and 5, the results of which will be declared on December 8, which will coincide with that of the Himachal Pradesh polling outcome.
Addressing a press conference to make the announcement of the polling dates, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said, "There were multiple factors behind this. Recently a very tragic incident occurred there (Morbi bridge collapse)- one of the reasons why we delayed. Also, there was state mourning in the state yesterday; so multiple factors."
When asked about the recent tweet by the Congress party stating "The Election Commission of India is an autonomous institution. It conducts fair elections", Kumar said that the people who are critical also got surprising results.
"Action and outcome actually speak louder than words. 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. People question EVM but when results are in their favour, they become silent," Kumar said.
The voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 while the counting of votes will be done on December 8, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday. The CEC informed that as many as 3,24,422 people would be first-time voters in the state.
"I am happy to inform you that 3,24,422 new voters will vote for the first time this time in the Gujarat Assembly elections. The total number of polling stations is 51,782. At least 50 per cent of the polling stations set up in the state will have webcasting arrangements," Kumar said.
"For a better voting experience, 1274 polling stations will be managed entirely by women and security staff. Public Works Department will welcome voters at 182 polling stations. For the first time, 33 polling stations will be set up and managed by the youngest polling staff," he added.