EC may declare LS poll dates by March

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 18

With the Election Commission asking its Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to hold meetings with leaders of political parties in their respective states as part of the Lok Sabha polls preparation, indications are the poll panel may announce the election dates by the first week of March.

Sources in the EC confirmed that as part of poll preparedness exercise, “the CEOs are regularly meeting leaders of political parties in their respective states”, as the term of current LS ends on June 3.

Indicating that discussions on the poll dates and its phases are taking place in full swing, another source said an announcement related to the mega exercise might take place in the first week of March. But deciding on the phases would entirely depend on the availability of security forces and other requirements, they added.

There is a possibility that the EC may go by the precedent and hold Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh along with the Lok Sabha polls. In case of Jammu and Kashmir, since the Assembly has been dissolved and Home Minister Rajnath Singh informing Parliament that the government would have no objection if EC decides to hold elections in the state along with the Lok Sabha, the poll panel would have little option but to go for it.

The J&K Assembly was dissolved in November 2018 and the upper limit ends in May. The poll panel may hold elections in the state along with the Lok Sabha polls.