K'taka: EC, SEC begin talks on electoral roll revision

Bangalore, Jan 2: The Election Commission today began detailed discussions with the State Election Commission (SEC) officials in Karnataka on finalising the electoral roll revision ahead of the mid-term polls to the state Assembly, likely to be held in May this year. According to official sources here, Deputy Election Commissioner R Bhattacharya held discussions with top government and SEC officials, including Chief Electoral Officer Ramaseshan and Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Commissioner Subramanya.

The EC had asked the state government officials to expedite preparation of voters' list, which was in the final stage. After the fall of the week-old BJP-led coalition government in October, Karnataka was under the President's rule. The EC rushed Mr Bhattacharya to the state as it was not satisfied with the slow progress of electoral roll preparation. He would be staying in the city for three days to ensure early completion of the voter's list, for which the qualifying date was fixed as January 1, 2008.

UNI