Election Commission to review rolls

The Election Commission of India (ECI), led by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, will visit Bangalore on March 4 to review the final version of the electoral rolls as well as the redrawing of the constituencies.

The officials will meet Karnataka's Chief Electoral officer Ramaseshan and Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao and other top bureaucrats. The final list of the electoral rolls is expected to be published on March 10.

If the elections to the assembly are held in November once the delimitation of the constituencies is carried out, the state will wil have to revise the electoral rolls again. This is time consuming. There is pressure on the ECI to conduct the polls prior to carrying out the delimitation of the constituencies.

Though the Congress is keen on elections being held towards December, the BJP wants the polls to be held once the President's Rule expires. The ECI will meet the representatives of all political parties to elicit their opinion on holding the elections. The President's Rule will expire on May 28.