Gujarat Assembly Elections to be held on 9th and 14th December, results on 18th December

Gujarat will vote in two phases - On December 9 and then December 14. The Election Commission announced the election dates for the state, adding that the counting of the votes will take place on December 18.

A total of 89 seats will be covered in first phase and rest 93 seats will go to polls in second phase. The first phase will cover 19 of 33 districts.

The notification for the second phase will be issued on November 20.

The announcement effectively brings the model code of conduct into the state. EC's announcement comes a day after the state government announced a slew of sops. There will be a total number of 50,128 polling booths that will be put in place. VVPAT machines will be used and the slips generated by machines will be tallied with the votes polled.

The filing of nominations will start from 14th November and will continue till 21st November. Candidates can withdraw their nominations till November 24.

For the second phase, candidates can file their nominations till November 27 and withdraw till November 30.

Gujarat has 4,30,00,000 active voters.

Each candidate can spend a maximum Rs 28 lakh during the polls.

Opposition parties had criticised EC for not announcing Gujarat polls dates along with Himachal Pradesh on October 12.

In 2012 Assembly polls, BJP had won 115 seats, Congress 61, NCP 2 and others 4 out of total 182 seats.

Key highlights of Election Commission's press briefing:
* CCTVs will be installed at border checkposts, videography will be done in key areas

* Voters will be able to see their votes from VVPAT slip

* Height of the voting compartment will be increased

* 102 all-women operated booths

* EC will keep a track for paid news

* Candidates will have to open new accounts for election expenditures