Election Commission team to visit Jharkhand to test poll preparedness

A team of Central Election Commission officials will be on a two-day visit to Jharkhand next week to set the ball rolling for the assembly elections. The term of the assembly ends in October-November. Chief election commission (CEC) B S Sampat, accompanied by his two deputies and other officials, will meet representatives from the government and police. Though Jharkhand has only 81 assembly seats, security is always a concern in this Maoist-affected state.

"The scheduled visit is on Monday and Tuesday and they will meet leaders of all political parties here. A meeting is also planned with SPs, DCs and top government officials," state chief election commissioner P K Jajoria said. On Monday they will meet SPs from all 24 districts in the morning and leaders of political parties in the evening.

The next day (Tuesday) they will meet DCs from all the districts in the morning and DGP and chief secretary in the evening. Top bureaucrats will apprise the team - comprising CEC B S Sampat, election commissioners H S Brahma and S N A Zaidi, deputy election commissioner Umesh Sinha and others - of the state's preparedness for the electiuons.

"On the first day they will hold a meeting with leaders of all political parties and know their views on the impending elections. If all the political parties pitch for early polls, the EC might give its nod after consultations with other stakeholders in the state," said an EC official.

In the second phase of the Lok Sabha election, Maoist ambush killed eight persons, including security personnel and poll officials in Dumka despite tight vigil. Dumka, howeverm is not on the list of the home affairs ministry's worst Red-hit districts. "The (EC) team has security among its top priorities and a meeting is scheduled with the DGP and the chief secretary on the second day," said Jajoria.

Jharkhand's 90% assembly seats are situated in deep Maoist pockets. The main political players in Jharkhand are BJP, Congress, JVM (P), JMM, and AJSU Party. In the past few weeks, all the political parties have been making strategies to contest the polls. JVM (P), BJP, and AJSU Party, all in opposition, want the polls be held immediately.

 source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/