Election Commission to visit poll-bound Rajasthan, Telangana

The Election Commission will be on a three-day visit to Rajasthan beginning Friday to assess preparedness in the poll-bound state.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goyal will hold a meeting with representatives of recognised political parties in Jaipur on Friday, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said.

After this, the Commission will hold a discussion with nodal officers of the Rajasthan Police, income tax, excise, transport, commercial tax department, railways and airport etc.

On August 30, a presentation will be given to the team by the Chief Electoral Officer, State Police Nodal Officer and Central Police Force Nodal Officers on the preparations for the polls.

From October 3, the poll panel will be in Telangana for three days to take stock of election readiness, official sources said here on Thursday.

Following the visit to the last two of the five poll-bound states, the EC is likely to announce election schedule in the first week of October, it is believed.

Assembly polls are likely to be held in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Mizoram and Rajasthan in November-December.

The term of the legislative assembly of Mizoram ends on December 17 this year. The Mizo National Front is in power in the northeastern state.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan end on different dates in January next year.

While the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) rules Telangana, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the BJP. Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have Congress governments.