With imposition of MCC, job appointments in govt departments put on hold

March 2: The schedule for the forthcoming Assam Assembly Elections, 2021 was declared by Sunil Arora, 23rd Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) in an important press conference on Friday evening. Election Commission of India (ECI) announced dates for elections to the legislative assemblies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry today during the press meet. Assam will go for the assembly polls in three phases on:

• 1st phase : 27 March, 2021(47 constituencies). The issue of nomination shall be till 2 March, last date of nomination 9 March, scrutiny of nomination 10 March & last date of withdrawal of nomination 12 March.
• 2nd phase :1 April, 2021 (39 constituencies). The issue of nomination shall be till 5 March, last date of nomination 12 March, scrutiny of nomination 15 March & last date of withdrawal of nomination 17 March.
• 3rd phase : 6 April, 2021 (40 constituencies). The issue of nomination shall be till 12 March, last date of nomination 19 March, scrutiny of nomination 20 March, last date of withdrawal of nomination 22 March.
• The counting of the votes will take place on 2 May, 2021.

Now, with the declaration of poll schedule, the model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect in all the poll bound states including Assam. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) specifies list of do’s and don’ts for the political parties ahead of elections. Moreover, the MCC also prohibits the respective state governments to put on hold all job appointments in government departments. Those who have appeared in examinations conducted by state government departments will have to wait until a new government is formed after the declaration of election results. Further, interview for jobs in govt departments during this phase also will have to be put on hold.