It is now almost certain that the Assembly elections in Telangana State will be held by November-December. In a clear pointer towards this the Election Commission of India has advanced the process of electoral rolls revision.
Against the earlier date of January 1, 2019 to complete the process now it will be competed by October 4. As per the new schedule the draft roll be filed on September 10, claims and objections to be relieved by September 25 and claims and objections to be disposed of by October 4. Th final electoral rolls would be published on October 10.
The Election Commission has permitted the State Chief Electoral Officer to conduct the polls with the data of revision so far. This has raised the heckles of the main opposition Congress. Chairman of state Congress election committee M Shashidhar Reddy has questioned how the election commission can ignore the revision of electoral rolls and conduct the elections.
KCR was trying to influence the Election Commission so the elections were held as per his wishes, he alleged.
Meanwhile the Election authoeities have started making other arrangements and ensuring the availability of the electronic voting machines.
The Election Commission has asked the Bharat Electronics Ltd. Bangalore to send 52,100 ballot units, 40,700 control units and 40,000 voter verified paper audit trail units (VVPATS) to Telangana.