NEW DELHI: The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Achal Kumar Jyoti on Tuesday said that assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in December this year."The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on January 22, so the election will have to be completed in December. Assembly elections will mostly be conducted in the December," he said.The Gujarat BJP, however, has demanded the elections be conducted in mid-January.When asked whether the state will see a one or two-phased election, Jyoti said that they were "still assessing various aspects, so it will be announced later."Gujarat will be among the two states where as many as 75,000 VVPAT gadgets will be used for the first time with electronic voting machines, it was reported earlier. The VVPAT machines will be attached to the EVMs and will allow voters to verify if their vote has gone to the intended candidate."Political parties welcomed introduction of VVPATs. They emphasized need to publicize its functioning," said Jyoti.Jyoti added that the Election Commission had asked Gujarat state authorities to provide cashless facilities to polling staff.Those possessing licensed weapons would have to deposit them with the police, while polling is on."License holders will have to deposit their licensed weapons with concerned SHO or police station," he said. "After the polling is over, all licensed weapons shall be returned to the licensed owners."The CEC was on a two-day visit to the state to review election preparedness for the upcoming assembly elections. He expressed his satisfaction over the current situation.