Sources at the Election Commission here says that it was looking at the possibility of conducting them together
The poll process in the five states of Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana is expected to be completed by the second week of December. Sources at the Election Commission (EC) here said that it was looking at the possibility of conducting them together.
A team of officials from the EC was in Hyderabad recently to assess electoral preparedness in Telangana. They met with the police, senior government officials, political parties and other departments concerned. "We will submit our report once in Delhi. We found that by and large preparations (for the forthcoming elections) are on right track. It is for the EC to assess when the polls can be held," said Umesh Sinha, deputy election commissioner. In the light of preliminary assessment, it is believed that the EC may now agree to club Telangana elections with rest of four states.
Sinha said the chief electoral officer and his teams will conduct a big campaign at the village-level to ensure proper revision of electoral rolls. Asked if Telangana will go to polls along with other states (where elections are slated to be held this year), Sinha said this was a matter for the ECI to decide.
While Chhattisgarh could have polls in two phases, in the remaining states the exercise could be completed in a single phase. The Commission has announced on Saturday that the final voter list will be published on October 8. In Telangana, the panel has suspended an ongoing process of revision of electoral rolls in the wake of the premature dissolution of the state assembly and declared a new schedule for revision. After the new roll is published, the EC is legally ready to announce the poll schedule, said panel officials.
The Telangana cabinet had on Thursday last recommended the dissolution of the state Assembly. The term of the House was to otherwise end in June 2019. The term of Mizoram Assembly ends on December 15. The terms of the legislative assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan end on January 5, January 7 and January 20, 2019, respectively.
Ahead of the EC team visit, Telangana Director General of Police M Mahendar Reddy met Chief Secretary S K Joshi and discussed poll arrangements. Deputy chief electoral officer Satyavani held a meeting with joint collectors in her office and discussed the requirement of various poll equipment.
TERM ENDS ON...
Dec 15 – Mizoram
Jan 5 – Chhattisgarh
Jan 7 – Madhya Pradesh
Jan 20 – Rajasthan
June 2019 – Telangana (prior to Assembly dilution)
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 "File photo of K Chandrashekhar Rao with Governor ESL Narsimhan")
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