EC calls meet to discuss Gujarat, Himachal polls

The Election Commission has convened a three-day conference of electoral officers in Delhi from April 10 to discuss the upcoming Presidential election and the assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The conference may also help the commission decide if it should club the elections in three other states where the assembly terms are ending in March, along with Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, sources in the Election Commission said.

The Presidential election, tentatively scheduled for July 19, will be conducted by Rajya Sabha Secretary General Vinod Agnihotri in Parliament as the chief returning officer and by the secretaries of the respective state assemblies. The electoral officers will provide them logistical support in counting and other matters.

The five-year term of President Pratibha Patil will end on July 24, and her successor needs to be elected before that date. The election of a new vice-president will follow suit as Dr Hamid Ansari is retiring on August 10.

According to sources, the conference will also be addressed by the electoral officers of the five states, in which state polls were held recently, to share their experiences.

While the assemblies in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are completing their terms on January 10 and January 17 respectively, another important assembly election is due in Karnataka in June next year. Four other states that will be going to polls towards the end of 2013 are Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.