Assembly elections announced. Voting for 5 states begins Feb 4

All results to be declared on March 11. Model code of conduct comes into force

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls  in seven phases on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 and March 4 and 8 , said Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday.

Voting in Goa and Punjab will be held on February 4. Uttarakhand will go to polls on February 15.

Polling in Manipur will be in two phases. The first phase with 38 constituencies will go to polls on March 4 and the second phase with 22 constituencies on March 8.

The counting for all five assemblies will take place on March 11.

The model of conduct comes into effect immediately.

The terms of the legislative assembly in Uttar Pradesh is going to end on May 27, Uttarakhand is due to expire on March 26 while that of Goa, Manipur and Punjab expires on March 18.

160 million voters will exercise their franchise in polling that will be held in 690 Assembly consitutencies. 1.85 lakh polling stations will be set up with some of them being modern polling station as well.

The poll schedule comes amid the split of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party are looking to gain from the internal tussle between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.

On Tuesday, the Election Commission  held a meeting with Chief Electoral Officers of the poll-bound states to finetune arrangements. The law and order situation in Manipur due to the blockade by some Naga groups was also the focus of attention of the Commission in the meeting.

At the meeting, the assessment of the law and order situation, deployment of polling personnel, safety and electronic voting machines and strict implementation of the model code of conduct also came up for discussion. In its report to the EC, the Union Home Ministry has conveyed that ground situation in Manipur following the blockade of National Highway 2 by United Naga Council and the state government's alleged "failure" to resume normal traffic even after 60 days.