Election Commission To Visit Poll-Bound Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat To Review Preparedness

Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, and Election Commissioner, Anup Chandra Pandey are on a three-day visit to Himachal Pradesh and on Monday will be in Gujarat.

Election Commission of India

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New Delhi: The Election Commission will be visiting Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to assess how well functional the poll machinery in both states are, as they are stepping up the preparations. Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, and Election Commissioner, Anup Chandra Pandey are on a three-day visit to Himachal Pradesh beginning today.

They will meet with senior state officials to discuss preparations and ensure that everything is set up for smooth conduction of the assembly election.

To assess the level of poll readiness, Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, and Election Commissioner, Anup Chandra Pandey will visit Gujarat on Monday.

Earlier this week, a nine-person delegation from the Election Commission of India (ECI) met with P Bharathi, the chief electoral officer of Gujarat, to discuss poll preparedness.

Electoral roll revision, transportation, security, training, and other topics were reviewed at the meeting, which was also attended by district election officials, commissioners, and police superintendents.

The terms of the legislatures of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will expire on February 23, 2023, and January 8, 2023, respectively. Elections may be held at any time within six months of the conclusion of any House's five-year term.

Before the announcement of polls, the Election Commission usually travels to states where voting will be taking place soon.

Himachal Pradesh held elections on November 9, 2017, while Gujarat had two rounds of voting on December 9 and 14 respectively.

Since 1998, the BJP has held power in Gujarat, and the primary opposition Congress came perilously close to ousting it in the most recent assembly elections in 2017.

During the last five years, a number of Congress leaders have joined BJP, and the AAP now seems to be stealing the show in the election campaigning as it looks to increase its influence across the nation.

The BJP won the election in Himachal Pradesh in 2017 by defeating the Congress. In the heavily divided hill state, where the AAP is attempting to gain ground, Congress is preparing to take on the BJP.

(With inputs from PTI)