New Delhi : The Election Commission may announce the schedule of assembly polls in five states between Monday and Wednesday. According to Election Commission sources, polling will be held on separate days between the second week of November and the first week of December, but the assembly votes of five states will be counted simultaneously in December. A source in the commission said on Friday that polling is likely to be held in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram between the second week of November and the first week of December.

According to the sources, the counting of assembly votes of five states will be done simultaneously in the second week of December, even though the polls will be held on separate days. Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar has started a visit to five states this week to check the preparations for the polls. This is the last big electoral test for BJP and Congress before the Lok Sabha polls. In 2018, polling was held in two phases in Chhattisgarh and in one phase in the remaining four states. In Chhattisgarh out of 90 assembly constituencies, the first phase of the Maoist-infested 18 constituencies was held on November 12. And the second round of 72 constituencies was held on November 20. The commission had announced the polls in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram on the same day. The 230-seat Madhya Pradesh assembly went to polls on November 28. Voting was also held in 40-seat Mizoram on that day. In 2018, Rajasthan with 200 assembly seats and Telangana with 119 seats also went to polls on the same day — December 7. Counting of votes in five states took place on December 11.