New Delhi: Haryana and Maharashtra will elect new Assemblies on October 15 and the results will be declared October 19, Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath announced on Friday.


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With the above announcement, “Model Code of Conduct comes into force in both the states,” added the Chief Election Commissioner.


The poll dates were announced by the Chief Election Commission VS Sampath at a press conference here.


He further said, “The last date for filing of nominations in both states is September 27. Date of scrutiny of nominations is September 29 and the last date for withdrawing nominations is October1.”


“Although the counting of ballots will be held on October 19. The electoral process will conclude on October 22,” Sampath added.


Further giving details of the number of seats on which elections will be held in both the states, Sampath said, “In Haryana the BJP will be contesting all the 90 seats, while in Maharashtra it will contest on 288 seats.” 


“The tenure of the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly comes to an end on 8 November, while that of the 90-member Haryana House will end on 27 October,” he added.   


The upcoming Assembly elections will be a major test for the BJP as it would indicate whether the 'Modi wave' has subsided after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. At present Maharashtra is ruled by the Congress-NCP coalition, and Haryana by the Congress.


In Haryana the BJP will be contesting all the 90 seats alone following its split with the Haryana Janhit Congress, while in Maharashtra it will contest equal number of seats with its ally the Shiv Sena.


Giving more details of the election schedule, Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said apart from Haryana and Maharashtra, by-elections will be conducted on the same day for five Assembly seats in five other states -Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.


By-elections for two Parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra's Beed and Odisha's Kandhamal will also be held on October 15 and counting for all the seats will take place on October 19.


“The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately for all the seats going to polls,” Sampath added.


Notification for polls will be issued on September 20 and last date for filing nomination is September 27 for all seats except Kandhamal for which the notification will be on September 19 and last date of nomination is September 26.


Asked about elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is witnessing worst-ever floods, Sampath said, “The Commission was watching the situation very closely in the state and "a decision will be taken after things come to some shape".


“However, there was still some time for the terms of J&K and Jharkhand Assemblies to expire,” he added.