New Delhi: Chief election commissioner O.P. Rawat has told The Telegraph that it was "very difficult to fathom" whether the poll panel would be able to hold elections to the Lok Sabha and 11 Assemblies simultaneously.
"It is feasible to conduct the Lok Sabha elections along with elections to five Assemblies whose terms expire around the same time. If one or two more states are added, it can be delivered. But 11 states, unless we know the names of the states, the number of polling stations in those states…. It is very difficult to fathom whether our cushion will be able to cater to those states or not," Rawat said in an interview at Nirvachan Sadan.
Asked about including states whose Assembly terms expire six months before that of the Lok Sabha, he said: "How can you include these states? (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram). The commission has already started in full swing, reviewing poll preparedness and going ahead with asking collectors, SPs and state administrations to do everything… procuring material… even (voting) machines have been delivered to four states. We are in the process to deliver elections to these Houses by December 15, so how can you add them?"
The interview was conducted a day after BJP sources suggested that the Narendra Modi government and the party were toying with the idea of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and 11 Assemblies, most of them BJP-ruled, in February.
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