The Election Commission has prohibited conducting and publication or publicising of exit polls from 8 am on November 9 till 6 pm on December 14.

This means that exit polls cannot be conducted or published or otherwise disseminated till polling ends in both Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Polling is scheduled to take place for the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly on November 9 while the second of the two rounds of polls for the 182 seats in the Gujarat Assembly will end at 5 pm on December 14.

Meanwhile, the authorities have seized ₹1.18 crore in cash, 3.01 lakh litres of liquor valued at ₹5.19 crore, and drugs worth ₹12.86 crore till November 6 in Himachal Pradesh.

The authorities have also seized 2.98 kg of gold items from the State, the Election Commission said.

In Gujarat, the authorities have seized ₹20 lakh in cash and £3,650, as well as 3.08 lakh litres of liquor. In addition, 24.83 kg of gold/bullion, jewellery worth ₹7.33 crore was seized in Gujarat till November 5, the Commission announced. The EC announced the schedule for Himachal Pradesh on October 12 while the poll schedule for Gujarat was announced on October 25.

The Opposition slammed the Election Commission for being partisian towards the Modi government and giving it more time to dole out sops to voters in Gujarat.

The allegation was denied by the Commission which pointed out that the Chief Secretary of Gujarat wrote twice to the EC requesting that the dates for polls not be announced in a hurry as this could affect flood relief work in the State.