Senior EC officials in Puducherry to oversee election preparations

Puducherry, Dec 21: As part of its preparations to hold assembly elections in five states in mid-2021, the Election Commission is sending a senior official to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry beginning Monday.

EC Secretary-General Umesh Sinha will be in Tamil Nadu on Monday and Tuesday, and Puducherry on Wednesday to oversee advanced preparations and meet officials, sources said on Sunday.

Before the chief election commissioner and fellow commissioners visit a state, senior EC functionaries take stock of basic preparations, including electoral rolls.

This time, preparations for holding polls amid the coronavirus pandemic would also be assessed.

Last week, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain was in West Bengal to oversee similar preparations.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry are coming to an end between May and June next year and polls are likely to take place in April-June.

The political scene in Tamil Nadu, which has been traditionally dominated by the two Dravidian parties, has become a lot more interesting after Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth announced his decision to launch his party to fight the polls.