Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said that political parties told the poll panel to announce Maharashtra assembly polls keeping in mind festivals like Diwali.
“We have come here for the preparedness of the upcoming Assembly elections that are going to take place in Maharashtra. We met with the leaders of national parties and regional parties. We met the stakeholders, DM, Commissioner of Police, DGP,” ANI quoted Kumar as saying at a press briefing in Mumbai.
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“We met the leaders of a total of 11 parties including BSP, AAP, CPI(M), INC, MNS, SP, Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena...They have asked us to consider the festivals like Diwali, Dev Diwali and Chhath Puja before announcing the dates of the elections,” the CEC added.
Further, the chief election commissioner noted that the term of the current assembly is expiring on November 26 so the elections have to be completed before the date.
“In Maharashtra, there are 288 constituencies of which ST constituencies are 25 and ST constituencies are 29. The term of the Maharashtra legislative assembly is ending on 26 November so elections have to be completed before that. Total electors in the states are 9.59 crores with male being 4.59 crores and female being 4.64 crores...First-time voters from 18-19 years are quite encouraging, around 19.48 lakhs,” he said.
EC pulls up state officials
On Friday, CEC Rajiv Kumar expressed his displeasure over the Maharashtra administration's alleged non-compliance with the directive asking it to relocate officials who served in their home district or current posting for over three years.
Kumar asked the chief secretary why, despite clear direction from ECI, the state is reluctant to transfer revenue officers to key posts in the state. EC conveys displeasure and seeks an explanation, ANI reported.
The EC demanded an explanation from the Chief Secretary (CS) and Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra for failing to fully implement its orders on the transfer of officials ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.