New Delhi, August 15
Ending days of suspense, the Election Commission is likely to announce its decision on holding the Gujarat Assembly elections by Saturday, sources in the commission said today.
The sources said efforts would be made by the commission which paid an on-the-spot visit to Gujarat to assess the situation last week, to announce its decision tomorrow or on Saturday.
Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh and the other two Commissioners, Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy, and Mr B.B. Tandon, who toured riot-ravaged Ahmedabad and Baroda for three days, had informally discussed the issue after their return on Sunday.
The full commission had gone to Gujarat for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation before deciding on the timing of the poll.
The visit of the full commission to Gujarat assumed significance because the nine-member EC official team which visited the state earlier was reported to have said that the condition was not conducive for holding an early poll in the state.
The ruling BJP, after dissolving the Gujarat Assembly, is pressing for early elections in the state citing a constitutional necessity for holding the Assembly session by early October. However, the Opposition parties have opposed an early poll saying that the conditions were not conducive for the same.
PTI
