Telangana polls: All eyes on crucial Election Commission meet

Hyderabad: All eyes are on the crucial October 12 meeting of the Election Commission which is expected to take a decision on the schedule of the state Assembly polls along with those in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. The EC team which visited the state last month to assess the preparedness of the state administration to conduct early elections, submitted a report last week to Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat expressing satisfaction at the arrangements. It said the atmosphere was conducive for conducting elections.

However, Thursday’s development in the Supreme Court over the case filed by the Congress on discrepancies in the voters list will be the deciding factor on October 12. The SC directed the High Court to hear the case and take a call on the poll date. The High Court decision is crucial to determine the poll schedule.
The EC’s meeting for October 12 was scheduled prior to the apex court directions. The EC has decided to go ahead with the meeting.

If the High Court clears the voters list, the EC is expected to release the schedule along with other states. If not, the EC would keep the TS poll date pending.
The EC is working up strong arguments before the High Court against charges on the alleged discrepancies in the voters’ list. It wants to argue for holding early elections in compliance with the SC’s previous directions that called for elections to be held at the earliest in the event an Assembly was dissolved.

The EC is learnt to be in favour of holding the TS elections in the third week of November in a single phase and declare the results in the first week of December, after elections in the other four states. The target is to ensure the formation of a new government in Telangana state by December 10.