Rajeev Sharma tells us: The Election Commission is now likely to announce the schedule of the assembly elections in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur -- by January 3.

Earlier, knowledgeable sources had indicated that the EC would issue the notification for the five assembly polls by December 24, but this has been deferred in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega rally in Lucknow on January 2.

Now the EC is expected to announce the poll schedule for the five states soon after Modi's Lucknow rally.

It remains to be seen whether the Modi government presents its Union Budget (which will include the Rail Budget as well) on the proposed date of February 1 or defers it as it may not be feasible to conduct multi-phase polling in a big and politically sensitive state like UP in less than a month.

The Congress party has already petitioned the EC to ensure that the Modi government is not able to influence voters by presenting a populist budget in the midst of the assembly polls.

The EC has not issued any directive to the Modi government on the Congress plea so far and the EC's decision will be keenly watched in this context.