Ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra Haryana, EC bans exit polls from 7 am to 6.30 pm

New Delhi, October 15: With the upcoming Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly Polls and by-polls on October 21, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced that there would be a ban on the exit polls from 7 am to 6.30 pm. Apart from the ban on the exit polls, the EC also said that no political party or candidate contesting the elections will be allowed to publish any print advertisements unless they are pre-certified by the Chief Electoral Officer of the state.

The spokesperson of ECI, Sheyphali Sharan, also stated that displaying any election matter including results of opinion polls by any electronic media will be prohibited during the period of 48 hours after the conclusion of the polls in respective areas. In a series of tweets, spokesperson Sharan, stated a few prohibitory measures for the upcoming assembly and by-elections on October 21. Sharan first tweeted about the ban on exit polls from 7 am to 6:30 pm.

In another tweet, Sharan announced the prohibition on display of any election matter by the electronic media. She also tweeted about the 'Compendium of Instructions on Media Related Matters'.

Haryana, along with Maharashtra will go to polls on October 21 whereas the results of the elections will be announced on October 24. 17 states which include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh will also witness by-elections for the vacant seats on October 21 with their result being announced on October 24.