Poll dates may be announced Oct. 5

The Election Commission is likely to announce dates for the Delhi Assembly elections, including four other states, on October 5. Sources in the Delhi electoral office say the expected date for polling in the national capital may fall on November 25 or 26 as the last poll was held on November 29 in the year 2008. Moments after the announcement of the date, the model code of conduct will be implemented in the city and all ceremonies of laying foundation stones or inaugurating projects will be stopped. The 2008 Delhi Assembly polls saw a voter turnout of 57.58 per cent. The office of the chief electoral officer is aiming for 65 per cent turnout this time. A awareness campaign will be launched on the day the Election Commission declares the poll dates. The commission has restricted each candidate’s poll expenditure limit to '14 lakh this time. All candidates will have to open a separate account for election expenditure, which will be monitored by the commission. The EC’s expenditure manual clearly states that a list of star campaigners will have to be submitted to the chief electoral officer and the EC within seven days of an election’s notification. While the travel expenses of star campaigners will not be added to the expenditure assessment of a candidate, the travel expenses of campaigners from allied parties are not exempted. If a star campaigner travels with the candidate, 50 per cent of his travel expenditure will be added to it. Voting will take place in 11,763 polling booths spread across 2,603 locations in Delhi. In all, 634 locations have been identified as “critical” areas where the commission feels voters are vulnerable to intimidation.