The Election Commission will, on Friday, announce the poll schedule for the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

With the announcement of the poll schedule, the Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates will come into force.

Teams of the Commission recently visited the two states to take stock of poll preparedness.

The previous assembly elections were held in December 2017. After the election, BJP emerged victorious and had formed the state government, with Vijay Rupani taking over as the chief minister.

Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh, the Assembly elections were held in November 2017. After the election, the BJP had formed the government with Jai Ram Thakur becoming the chief minister.

While the elections for Gujarat's 182 seats were held in two phases, Himachal Pradesh had witnessed polling for 68 seats in a single phase.