EC relaxes notice period for registration of new political parties in poll-bound states

The public notice period for new political parties seeking registration has been reduced by the Election Commission of India from thirty days to 7 days, due to the delays caused by the pandemic. The relaxation in the notice period is until March 19 and April 7, as these are the last dates for the five poll-bound states to file the nominations.

'Delay due to pandemic situation'

As per the guidelines issued by the ECI, the applicants have to publish the name of their party in at least two national and local dailies, each on two days, seeking objections, if any within 30 days. A statement by the polling body read "The commission was apprised of the situation where the applications for registration were dislocated due to the delay caused in moving them because of the situations during pandemic. This led to the delay in registration of the political parties.''

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The General Assembly Elections in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry will start from March 27. Over 180 million people will franchise their votes in 824 Assembly seats. Around 270,000 polling booths have been set up across these states to facilitate voters.  

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West Bengal will vote in the highest number of eight phases where the BJP is aiming to defeat the ruling TMC. The eastern state with 294 constituencies will witness polling between March 27 and April 29. Tamil Nadu with 234 seats and Kerala with 140 seats and Puducherry with 20 seats will vote on April 6. While Assam with 126 constituencies will vote in three phases on March 27, April 1, and April 6.

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