TS Polls: EC confirmed election date
Telangana | Written by : Suryaa Desk
The Election Commission on Saturday set the ball rolling for early polls in the State with elections to the 119-member Telangana State Legislative Assembly to be held on December 7 and counting of votes and declaration of results to be taken up on December 11. As per the schedule announced, the entire election process will be completed by December 13.The commission will issue the election notification on November 12 and nominations will be accepted till November 19. The scrutiny of nominations is scheduled for November 20. November 22 will be the last date for withdrawal of nominations.
A month-long exercise taken up by the Election Commission to assess the preparedness of the State to hold polls as well as to complete the summary revision of electoral rolls in the aftermath of the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly prematurely on September 6 culminated in the announcement of the much awaited election dates, on Saturday.
New govt in mid-Dec
As expected, polls will be held in the State simultaneously along with four other States — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram — where the elections are due. The new government will be in place in Telangana in the second week of December.
The Election Commission has also decided to publish the final electoral rolls in the State as desired by the High Court with its clearance. The writ petition pertaining to the issue of electoral rolls will come up for hearing on October 8 and the final list will be published on October 12.
The model code of conduct has already come into effect in the State, which is under a caretaker government. The Chief Electoral officer of the State, Rajat Kumar, met the Election Commission officials and presented his final report on the preparedness to hold polls on Friday.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the State Legislative Assembly nine months ahead of its constitutionally stipulated term, calling for early polls. Governor ESL Narasimhan accepted the resolution of the State Cabinet for dissolution of the House. The TRS had 90 of the 119 seats in the State Assembly.
As desired by the Governor, ESL Narasimhan, Chandrashekhar Rao and his Council of Ministers continued in office as a caretaker government. Rao had already announced candidates for 105 constituencies of the total 119 seats in the Assembly and all his nominees are in the thick of campaigning for the past one month.