Five states may have their polls in May — CEC

“These matters (law and order) lie in other domains,” he said.

The tenures of the Tamil Nadu assembly expire on May 21 and Kerala on May 28 while those of West Bengal and Pondicherry expire on June 9. The term of the Assam Assembly ends on June 11. “We are very much focused. Elections will be held before the third week of May,” Gill said.

The CEC also hinted at simultaneous elections for all the assemblies saying that the commission had also tried to bunch together elections since the results of one assembly election could have a bearing on another when held over a short span of time.

He said that the EC had followed the practice of holding assembly elections two weeks ahead of the expiry of the tenure so that the new governments were in place well in time.

Gill said the commission would extensively employ electronic voting machines during the coming polls. Two public sector units in Bangalore and Hyderabad had been asked to expedite the delivery of 1.5 lakh new machines to add to a similar number existing.

The CEC said the commission would complete 50 years of its existence later this month and the “celebration of India’s constitutional democratic structure” would be held over two days from January 17.

President K.R. Narayanan, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi, Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi and election officialsfrom other countries would attend the celebrations.