New Delhi: Preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, have begun. It is now clear that the assembly elections in all these states will be held on schedule. Work on the census process has been advanced in four of these states UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Goa while the first phase of the census has been postponed in the fifth state, Manipur.
This government decision confirms that the assembly elections will take place in February-March of next year. The Model Code of Conduct will come into force in all five states once the election dates are announced in the first week of January. Manipur’s legislative term will end first, on March 13, 2025. Regarding the other states, the term of the Goa assembly ends on March 22, Punjab’s on March 16, Uttarakhand’s on March 18, and UP’s on May 22.
Elections were held simultaneously in these five states previously as well.
Assembly elections were held concurrently in these five states in 2022 as well. Although the first meeting of the UP assembly took place on May 22, 2022, the elections for UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Goa are set to be held together. The election in UP will occur two months ahead of schedule, as the Election Commission has the authority to conduct polls up to six months prior to the end of the term.
When might the election dates be announced?
The Election Commission of India has already completed the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process in three of the states. Work is currently proceeding rapidly in the remaining two states. Therefore, it appears unlikely that the Election Commission will conduct an SIR in those states before announcing the assembly election dates. Upon the conclusion of the SIR, the voter count stood at 13.4 crore in UP (a 13.2% decrease), 10.6 lakh in Goa (10.2% lower), and 19.3 lakh in Manipur (a 7.6% drop).
Meanwhile, the final voter lists for Punjab and Uttarakhand are expected to be released within a few months. Meanwhile, the Centre has announced its decision to conduct the population enumeration phase of the 2027 Census between December 1, 2026, and January 4, 2027, in Goa and in the snow-free areas of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand.
January 5 has been designated as the reference date for this exercise. Furthermore, a decision has been taken to defer the house-listing phase of the census in Manipur. Consequently, election dates could be officially announced in the first week of January.
Elections in UP likely two months early
The term of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly is set to expire on May 22, 2027. If the Election Commission holds the elections in February and March, voting would take place two months ahead of schedule. Since Manipur’s assembly term ends the earliest, the Election Commission is preparing to conclude elections across all these states before March 13.
