We are ready for polls, says CEC Gill

As soon as the President announced the dissolution of the 11th Lok Sabha this morning, the three EC members went into an emergency meeting to discuss the logistics of holding the gigantic exercise.

But since the process of revising the electoral rolls is underway, the formal notification announcing the elections will be issued only after the publication of the revised rolls on January 5, the Election Commission said.“We are a permanent Commission. We are always in readiness,” said Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill when questioned about the preparedness of the EC to hold the polls.

Since the EC has begun a process of enforcing the code of conduct for the candidates, the elections this time will see the strict adherence of regulations to keep out criminals.

Each candidate has to give a signed affidavit swearing that he or she has never been convicted of any crime.

Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurty said the model code of conduct will come into effect from the date the press note of the election schedule is issued by the Commission as upheld by a decision of the Punjab High Court.

In the three-phased poll being chalked out by the Commission, the elections will be spread over three days in the bigger states which have more than 40 constituencies while in the smaller states, the elections will be completed in two days. In the Union Territories, the exercise will be completed in a day, Krishnamurty said.

Along with the general elections, the EC is planning to conduct Assembly elections in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura as well, he said.But with the onset of winter, the polls will be deferred in Jammu and Kashmir and in Lahaul and Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh.

The expenditure for the entire exercise is expected to be in the range of Rs 750 crore to Rs 800 crore, said Gill.

Some 2,000 tonnes of paper will be required to print the ballot papers and the EC has begun the process of sourcing and ordering the paper, much of which will have to be imported, he added.

The Commission has also sent instructions down the line to the Chief Electoral Officers in the states and Union Territories to gear up for the polls.

The last general elections in 1996 had involved around 45 lakh personnel, deployed in nine lakh polling stations.