Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath has said that the preparatory work for elections to the Assemblies of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram which were due in November– December were in progress.
The revision of electoral rolls, rationalisation of polling stations and training of election staff was taken up for the purpose, Mr. Sampath told media persons on a visit here on Sunday for a book release function.
He said the election schedule for these States would be announced at the right time keeping in view the logistics.
Mr. Sampath ruled out election to 15 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh which fell vacant recently due to disqualification of the sitting MLAs as the general elections in the State were less than a year away. There was no need for elections if the term of the Assembly was to expire within a year.
The EC was, however, studying whether to hold by-elections to Avanigadda Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore (Rural) and Mandya Parliamentary constituencies which were “border line” cases as far as the one year norm was concerned. Opinion on the practical aspects of the elections here was being taken. The Avanigadda seat fell vacant due to the death of the sitting MLA while the Bangalore (Rural) and Mandya seats were vacated by former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and N. Cheluvarayaswamy on their election to Karnataka Assembly as Janata Dal (S) candidates.
On electoral reforms, Mr. Sampath said they were referred to the national law commission as they required changes in law.
