The Election Commission is likely to announce the Gujarat Assembly election dates at 1 pm Wednesday, ANI reported.

The poll monitoring panel had drawn criticism for not announcing the dates at the same time it made the announcement for Himachal Pradesh. The matter even triggered a war of words between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.

The commission usually announces poll dates simultaneously. The Congress has alleged that the commission is delaying announcing the dates so that the BJP can offer more schemes to the people in the state. The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect as soon as voting dates are announced, banning politicians from announcing freebies until elections are over.

The EC, however, had defended its decision. “Gujarat poll schedules are not announced right now due to the existing rules on time limit [46 days] for holding elections,” Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti had said. “But it will take place before December 18 to ensure that Himachal Pradesh election results do not impact the Gujarat elections.”

Joti also cited flood-relief work in Gujarat as one of the factors that had delayed the Election Commission in announcing the poll dates for Gujarat.