The final voter list for the Assembly elections in Telangana will be published by October 8, the Election Commission of India announced on Sunday. The revision of electoral roll had been suspended after the early dissolution of the state Assembly last week, reported NDTV.
The poll panel will go ahead with the process and will ask voters to notify it of new names or discrepancies. An integrated draft roll will be published on September 10, said state Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar.
Claims and objections, which can be filed from September 10 to September 25, will be disposed of on October 4, reported IANS. Database update and printing of supplement will be carried out before October 7, the poll panel added.
“In the wake of the premature dissolution of the Legislative Assembly of Telangana, the ECI, after taking all aspects, including Supreme Court rulings, into consideration, has decided to stop all the activity related to the ongoing special summary revision of photo electoral rolls concerning January 1, 2019, as qualify date with immediate effect,” The Times of India quoted Kumar as saying. “ECI ordered the second special summary revision of photo electoral rolls concerning January 1, 2018, as qualifying date in the state.”
Earlier this week, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said a team from the poll panel would visit the state on September 11 to examine the situation and submit a report.
The decision came a day after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the state Assembly. The Assembly’s term was to come to an end in June 2019 and elections to both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were due to be held along with the general elections.
Telangana can go to the polls with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, said the poll panel. The Election Commission has a sufficient number of Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails to hold the elections then, reported NDTV.
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