Poll schedule for 4 States soon

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 4. The Election Commission today reviewed the poll arrangements with the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of Bihar, Haryana, Orissa and Manipur, where Assembly elections are likely to be held between February-end and first week of March.

The Commission is expected to finalise the time-frame for the assembly elections along with the byelection to two Lok Sabha and 31 Assembly segments spread over 11 States after a meeting tomorrow with senior Home Ministry officials.

``The Commission will be announcing the poll schedule very soon,'' the Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. M. S. Gill, said after the meeting which was attended by the Election Commissioner, Mr. J. M. Lyngdoh and other senior officials.

The Lok Sabha constituencies where byelections will be held are Bellary in Karnataka vacated by the Congress(I) president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh vacated by the Samajwadi Party president, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The Commission is keen on completing the election process in the four States in early March to enable the newly-elected Assemblies to take a vote on account for meeting the financial needs of the States till the passage of their budgets. While the tenure of the Bihar Assembly ends on April 9, those of Orissa and Manipur expire in the last week of March. Haryana is under Governor's rule.

The Commission has completed the summary revision of the electoral rolls all over the country except for Orissa, which was recently devastated by supercyclone. The revised rolls will be published on January 7.

The CEC said the Commission would send a team of officials to the states where assembly elections are due for a first hand assessment of the election preparedness. A team of senior officials of the Commission had recently visited Bihar and Orissa for an assessment of the ground situation.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Money laundering racket uncovered in Delhi
Next     : CWC meet to discuss hijack issue