Poll date announcement in January second week

SHILLONG: The Election Commission will announce the poll date sometime in the first or later part of January second week.
Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Kharkongor said on Sunday that the full team of the Commission, which visited the state recently, is happy with the poll preparedness.
The Commission will analyse all aspects, including religious festivals and board examinations, before deciding on the date.
Earlier, political parties here had urged the Commission to avoid clash of festivals and examinations with the poll date.
According to Kharkongor, usually the Election Commission gives maximum of 45 days and minimum of 21 days for the polls. “We expect the announcement to come in the first or later part of January second week,” Kharkongor said.
In 2013, the Election Commission had announced the two-phase polls for three northeastern states — Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland — on January 11.
The poll date for Meghalaya and Nagaland was February 23 while it was February 14 for Tripura. Counting for all the three states was held on February 28.
Kharkongor said another round of meeting with the political parties will be held sometime in January to clear the doubts about EVMs and VVPAT.
As many as 4,400 VVPAT machines have arrived in the state and Meghalaya already has 4,800 EVMs.