Ahead of the seven phase assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, a draw to decide the timings of campaigning by political parties on Doordarshan and Akashvani was taken out on Friday.
The elections for the 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting from February 10.The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Dr Brahm Dev Ram Tiwari adding details said that the all political parties were allotted a total of 1,798 mins for broadcasting. "TMC was allotted 90 minutes, BSP 307, BJP 478, CPI 92, CPI(M) 90, Congress 151, NCP 90, NPP 90, RLD 107 & SP was allotted 303 minutes, in both Doordarshan & Akashvani, separately," he added.
Further, Tiwari said, "Covering all the 7 phases, Doordarshan Kendra will broadcast 16 days from February 5 to March 5, between 1pm and 3pm. While, there'll be a 14-day broadcast on Akashvani, done in 2 shifts from 10am to 11am and from 5:30pm to 7:10pm."
Meanwhile in the view of elections in four other states other than UP, Union Health Secretary and Health Secretaries of poll-bound states' will meet Election Commission officers on Saturday at 12:30 pm. Meeting holds relevance as five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur-- are going for polls amid rising COVID-19 cases across the country.
Polling for Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh for 403 constituencies will take place in seven phases. Manipur with 60 constituencies will vote on February 27 and March 3.
Punjab with 117 constituencies will go to the polls on February 20. Earlier, it was scheduled to vote on February 14. Uttarakhand with 70 constituencies and Goa with 40 constituencies will cast their vote in a single phase on February 14.
The counting of votes for all the Assembly seats in the five states will be held on March 10.
