Capable of holding LS, 4 Assembly polls by year-end, says CEC

Giving a new twist to the debate on holding simultaneous polls, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat has said it is capable of holding elections to the Lok Sabha and four State Assemblies together in December if the Parliamentary elections are advanced.

His comments came when asked whether the EC was ready if the Lok Sabha elections are held in December, along with Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan.”Why not. There would not be any problem,” he said. 

Asked whether the required Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and paper trail machines would be ready if these elections are held simultaneously in December, the CEC said while all the required EVMs would be in place by September end, the paper trail machines would come in November end.