Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti has informed that Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh would be held in a single phase on 09th November and that counting of words would be taken up almost 40 days later on 18th December.

The CEC, however, stopped short of announcing a date to hold the Assembly polls in Gujarat. The Congress-led Govt. in Himachal Pradesh is headed by veteran party leader Virbhadra Singh. The tenure of the present Legislative Assembly having 68-members comes to an end in January, necessitating conduct of Assembly polls before January or during January.

Addressing newsmen in the national capital yesterday evening, CEC Jyoti said that it had been decided to hold the Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh in a single phase on 09th November. He, however, announced that the counting of votes would be taken up six weeks later only on 18th December, refusing to explain the long gap between the conduct of polls and the counting of votes.

Gujarat is another State where the Assembly polls are to be held by January next year. The CEC didn’t reveal the date of Assembly polls to be held in Gujarat and said that the details would be announced only on Monday (16th October).  It is widely predicted that the Assembly polls in Gujarat might be held before 18th December.

Gujarat has 182 Assembly constituencies and the Election Commission might hold a 2-phase polling in the State where the BJP is ruling under the chief-ministership of Anandiben.