EC confident of holding 5 Assembly polls in 2022 on time, says CEC

The Election Commission is confident of holding the five Assembly polls due early next year, including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, on time as poll panel has gained a lot of experience from the electoral exercise in Bihar, West Bengal and four other assemblies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra has asserted.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand are coming to an end in March 2022, while the term of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly is scheduled to end in May.

‘That is the foremost duty of the Election Commission that we should hold the elections and submit the list of the winning candidates (to the governor) before the term of the assembly expires,’ Chandra said. He was asked whether the poll panel will be able to hold the Assembly polls due in five states on time due to COVID-19 as recently it has deferred some Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls due to the second wave. Some Rajya Sabha bypolls and biennial legislative council elections were also deferred due to second wave of pandemic. “As you are aware that the second wave is also receding and the numbers (of infections) are quite less. We have done elections in Bihar during the pandemic, we have done polls in four states and one UT. We have experience... We have learned various experiences on how to hold polls during pandemic also,” he said.

“I am very much sure that with the receding pandemic now, and I wish the pandemic is over soon, we will absolutely be in a position to hold elections next year which are scheduled in five states on time, as per the schedule,” Chandra said.