MUMBAI: Its show time for the news channels. The Election Commission (EC) today announced that elections in Madhya Pradesh, new state Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi will be held on 1 December.
Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh said at a press conference in New Delhi that Mizoram would go to polls on 20 November.
In Mizoram votes will be counted on 2 December and in the other states on 4 December, Lyngdoh said. The commission also decided to hold by-elections to three assembly seats in Bihar -- Sitamarhi, Satwa, Barachapti -- and two seats in Uttar Pradesh -- Mahsi and Harora -- on November 20.
It was with an eye to the upcoming state elections that the government (read the information & broadcasting ministry) worked overtime to get its DD News channel off the ground. As per the latest announcement, DD News, which got Cabinet clearance last Friday, will launch as a 24-hour news channel from 3 November.
Another major initiative impacted by the elections was the government's plan to introduce the conditional access regime in the four metros. It was due to pressure from BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana that CAS was deferred in Delhi. The shelving of CAS in the capital paved the way for its deferment in Mumbai and Kolkata as well.
All the news channels have lined up special election programmes in the lead-up to the elections as well as the poll days. But the faces to watch will undoubtedly be NDTV's Prannoy Roy and Vinod Dua, who recently shifted loyalties from Subrato Roy's Sahara Samay to Star News.

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