Rajasthan Assembly Elections: Election Commission Postpones Poll Date To November 25 (Image: Election Commission of India)

The Election Commission of India postponed the poll dates for the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly Elections. The voting, which was originally scheduled for November 23, has now been postponed to November 25. However, the counting of votes will take place on December 3 itself.

In a notification that was released today, the Election Commission cited “large-scale” weddings and social engagements on November 23 in the state for changing the poll dates. The Election Commission also informed that they received requests from different political parties for a modification to the previously scheduled election date. The poll panel also said that these “large-scale” weddings and social engagements may cause inconvenience to a large number of people and it may result in low voter turnout.

According to the Election Commission, the date for issuing gazette notification is October 30 and the last date for filing nominations in Rajasthan is November 6. The nominations will be scrutinized on November 7 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is November 9. This new schedule will give additional time for the political parties for their election campaign.

Rajasthan is currently governed by Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government and the BJP is the main opposition party. The state assembly consist of 200 seats and the Congress had secured 108 seats in the 2018 election, while the BJP won 70 seats. Meanwhile, assembly elections will be also held in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram between November 7 and 30. The counting of votes for all the five states will be on December 3. While announcing the poll schedule on October 9, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar informed that 16 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming assembly elections.