The most crucial elections that will test the public support for the BJP Government in the aftermath of demonetisation will happen from February 4 to March 8, 2017.
The Election Commission announced Assembly election dates for five states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
Limit for candidate for expenditure in election in UP, Punjab and Uttrakhand has been fixed as Rs 28 lakh and for Goa, Manipur it would be Rs 20 lakh, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters in New Delhi.
Poll Dates
Uttar Pradesh (7 phase) -Feb 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 & 8
Punjab -February 4
Uttarakhand -February 15
Goa -February 4
Manipur (2 phase) -March 4 & 8
The Election Commission of India has for the first time took into consideration that many political parties have their own media outlets including newspapers and television channels which help the campaign of their respective parties.
The Comission today said that such publicity provided in their owns channels and papers would be considered as the poll expenses of the respective candidates.
The media monitoring committees at the state and district level would track such activity and report to the Commission.
This factor was not a consideration in the 2014 elections in the united Andhra Pradesh. YSR Congress and Telangana Rashtra Samithi had officially their own media outlets – Sakshi paper (Sakshi TV) and Namasthe Telangana (T News channel).
The Commission had already framed rules regarding the publicity provided to candidates in the sympathetic media, which may not be directly owned by parties or candidates.
