The Election Commission on Wednesday hinted at the possibility of simultaneous polls to Assemblies in five states before the third week of May.
“We are very much focused. There are going to be elections before the third week of May, Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill told when asked about the likely dates for assembly polls in five states. While the tenure of assemblies in Tamil Nadu and Kerala end on May 21 and 28 respectively, the term of West Bengal and Pondicherry assemblies expire on June 9 while Assam on June11. “The commission,” he said, “had maintained the practice of holding assembly elections two weeks ahead of the expiry of the tenure to enable the new government to assume office well in time.”

Maintaining that the commission would be extensively using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) during the coming polls in view of their success in previous elections, Gill said, “The commission has asked two public sector units in Bangalore and Hyderabad to expedite delivery of 1.5 lakh new EVMS being manufactured at the cost of Rs 150 crore. The commission already possesses 1.5 lakh EVMS.

Replying to questions on the recent bloody clashes between activists of Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) in west Bengal, the CEC said, “Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurty would visit the state on Thursday to review poll preparedness there. Bureau Report