UP Elections 2022 | no delay, all political parties want polls on schedule: CEC Sushil Chandra

Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said on Thursday that political parties in Uttar Pradesh met the poll panel and urged that assembly elections should be held on time.

A delegation of the Election Commission of India is on a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh to review the preparations for the upcoming polls to ensure free and fair elections.

The EC delegation, which arrived in Lucknow on Tuesday, met district magistrates, police chiefs, commissioners, IGs, DIGs and other officials and reviewed the preparations for the upcoming polls to ensure free and fair elections.

Speaking at the press conference in Lucknow, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said: "61% voter turnout was recorded in 2017 UP assembly elections. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, voter turnout in UP was 59%. It a matter of worry why voting percentage is less in the state where there is high political awareness among people."

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A delegation of the Election Commission of India (EC) on Wednesday held a meeting with district election officers (DEOs), superintendents of police, police commissioners and divisional commissioners to assess the law and order situation and the administration’s preparedness in view of the UP Assembly elections due early next year.

In the meetings, the delegation led by CEC Sushil Chandra is learnt to have directed the officials to focus on increasing voter turnout as compared to 2017, improve gender ratio in the electoral roll, increase turnout of women voters and make efforts to seize unaccounted cash.

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