Assembly polls in Telangana are likely to be held along with four others as all preparations are up to the mark, the Election Commission has assessed. The EC may announce Assembly elections in all five States by next week. And ahead of the Lok Sabha election 2019, the Election Commission has called a meeting with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) all States to assess the preparedness. The meeting will be held on October 4 and 5 at Nirvachan Sadan in Delhi.
An EC team that visited Telangana to assess its poll readiness has conveyed to the commission that the state is ready for polls. "All logistical needs, from polling stations to EVM-VVPAT delivery schedules, are in place to hold the polls in 2018," it said. The state chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar had also earlier submitted in meetings with EC in Delhi that the state is fully prepared to conduct elections early.
As for general elections, the Commission has directed CEOs to make presentations on issues related to electoral rolls, EVM-VVPAT, electoral management. The Commission has already held several rounds of deliberations of chief electoral officers of five States where assembly polls are due this year end.
Top sources said that the Commission will take stock of election planning and security planning by States and Union Territories. The Commission will also assess the status of electoral rolls, electronic voting machine- Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT), election expenditure management, Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), electoral registration officers (ERO)-NET, accessible elections and IT applications in States and UTs.
The Commission has directed to all CEOs to make a detailed presentations on issues related to EVM-VVPAT, election management and security planning during forthcoming polls in 2019.