NEW DELHI, Oct 4: India’s two main parties will test their strengths in key state polls in November and December ahead of general elections due by May next year and the election commission said on Friday the voters would get a first time choice to reject all the candidates on the ballot paper.

The polls to the assemblies in the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram will be held between November 11 and December 4, the Election Commission announced on Friday. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

The model code of conduct has already come into effect. Over 116 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.

The polls to the 90-member House in Chhattisgarh, in the Maoist belt, will be held in two phases on Nov 11 and 19. Madhya Pradesh will go to the polls on Nov 25, Rajasthan on Dec 1 and Delhi and Mizoram on Dec 4.

Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said that as per the Supreme Court’s direction, a ‘None of the Above’ button (the option of rejecting all candidates) would be provided in electronic voting machines in the polls.

Also, for the first time, the EC would introduce awareness observers for efficient and effective management of the electoral process.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said he was looking forward to a “healthy and spirited” elections to the five state assemblies.

Though the five state polls have been billed by the media as a semi-final to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress does not think so while the BJP was evasive.

“I welcome announcement of polls in 5 states. Elections are a celebration of our democracy. We look forward to a healthy and spirited elections,” Mr. Modi tweeted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh while Congress is in office in Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram. In another important related development this elections, Arvind Kejriwal’s anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is a new entrant in the Delhi Assembly polls.