Poll panel ready for elections in five states, says member
By IANSFriday, January 21, 2011
HYDERABAD - The Election Commission of India is prepared to conduct the upcoming assembly elections in five states, Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said Friday.
“We are in a state of prepardness,” the central Election Commision member told reporters on the sidelines of the conference of election commissioners from South Asia.
“We require minimum logistics and it is going to take some time,” he added.
Elections to the legislative assemblies in West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puduchery are scheduled to be held by May.
Sampath said a team of the poll panel was visiting the Maoist-affected Lalgarh region in West Bengal to assess the situation in the area where violence led to killings.
“The team is expected to come back by the end of this week and give feedback to us,” the election commissioner said.
Nine people were killed in the firing by alleged sympathisers of Communist Party of India (CPI-M) Jan 7.
