NEW DELHI: The Election Commission will be in Goa on Tuesday to assess preparedness for the upcoming assembly poll. The visit comes a week after the full Commission visited Punjab, starting its customary exercise of touring poll-bound states for discussions with the state administration, state chief electoral officer and political parties on all poll-related issues, before finally announcing the election dates.
Sources said the Commission is due to visit Uttarakhand next on December 23 and 24 to assess all aspects of poll preparedness with the stakeholders, followed by a visit to the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, tentatively scheduled between December 28 and 30, for the same purpose.
As per convention, the EC announces the polls after assessing the ground situation and poll preparedness with visits to the election-bound states. The visits also give the commission a fair assessment of the requirement of Central para-military forces for poll security. Based on the requirement assessed, the EC will have discussions with the home ministry to finalise the extent of forces to be deployed based on the availability indicated by MHA.
Usually, a discussion between the EC and the home secretary is one of the last exercises to be undertaken before announcing the election dates. As per indications, EC may announce the poll schedule early next month, and hopes to do it after the revised electoral rolls for the poll-bound states with January 1, 2022 as reference date, are published. UP has indicated that it will have the rolls published by January 5, which incidentally should pave the way for announcement of assembly polls in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. The polls are likely to be timed in February-March 2022.
Sources said the Commission is due to visit Uttarakhand next on December 23 and 24 to assess all aspects of poll preparedness with the stakeholders, followed by a visit to the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, tentatively scheduled between December 28 and 30, for the same purpose.
As per convention, the EC announces the polls after assessing the ground situation and poll preparedness with visits to the election-bound states. The visits also give the commission a fair assessment of the requirement of Central para-military forces for poll security. Based on the requirement assessed, the EC will have discussions with the home ministry to finalise the extent of forces to be deployed based on the availability indicated by MHA.
Usually, a discussion between the EC and the home secretary is one of the last exercises to be undertaken before announcing the election dates. As per indications, EC may announce the poll schedule early next month, and hopes to do it after the revised electoral rolls for the poll-bound states with January 1, 2022 as reference date, are published. UP has indicated that it will have the rolls published by January 5, which incidentally should pave the way for announcement of assembly polls in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. The polls are likely to be timed in February-March 2022.
.