‘Simultaneous polls impossible this year’

Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat on Wednesday said the upcoming polls to four States were unlikely to be held together with that of the Lok Sabha in December due to various procedural issues and a shortage of election machinery. “All the four States [Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan] have to go to polls, which should be completed before December 15. All the VVPATS have to be delivered by November 30. The first-level checking [FLC] of machines will take one month. Even the machines to be delivered in October cannot be used as their FLC will be done by November 30. Therefore, in no way it can be done,” he told The Hindu . The term of the Mizoram Assembly ends on December 15, while those of the Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Assemblies will end on January 5, January 7 and January 20 next year.

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/simultaneous-polls-impossible-this-year/article24699759.ece