Karnataka Assembly polls likely to be held in May

New Delhi: Assembly elections in Karnataka could be held in May, sources in the Election Commission said on Thursday.

EC sources also say the elections will be held under the new delimitation plan and that would make Karnataka the first state to conduct polls with freshly redrawn constituencies.

This was decided in a meeting of the Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy in New Delhi on Thursday.

The state has been under President's rule since November 2007 following the three-way political stalemate between the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular).

The President's rule will end on Mary 28. The BJP has welcomed the EC's decision to hold elections in May.

The EC, reportedly, has also decided to invoke Rule 24 of Registration of Electors Rules in the Representation of People Act (RPA) for going ahead with the conduct of the Assembly elections.

Rule 24 has special provision for preparation of rolls on delimitation of constituencies.

The state has a 3.98 crore electorate after the revision of electoral rolls. During the revision, 50 lakh names of ineligible voters were deleted and 20 lakh new names added.

Deputy Chief Election Commissioner R Bhattacharya also directed the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (OCEO) to keep Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) ready in the state for use in the polls.