CHENNAI: Amid speculation that general election to the State Assembly may be deferred due to the Covid crisis, the Election Commission has begun preliminary works for conducting the poll that is just 10 months away.
Official sources said last week that the EC officials had held a video-conference meeting with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo to discuss various matters, including the availability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). However, the sources did not reveal anything further about the meeting.
Currently, there is no clarity on when the Covid infection could be contained completely. There have been huge losses to State exchequer, industries, and the people at large. Hence, there are speculations that the elections could be postponed.
Meanwhile, the CEO told reporters that the date for by-polls to the three Assembly constituencies – Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni, Tiruvotriyur and Gudiyatham – which fell vacant after the death of DMK MLAs J Anbazhagan, KPP Samy and S Kathavarayan, was yet to be decided. However, as per the ECI norms, the EVMs for the by-elections to these constituencies are being kept ready after doing First Level Check (FLC).