By IANS
Bangalore : Karnataka has moved closer to the assembly polls in May by completing re-carving of its 224 constituencies in a record time of two weeks and working to publish the revised voters lists by March 22.
“The exercise to redraw constituencies began on March 1 and ended by 0230 hours on March 12,” Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer R. Ramaseshan told reporters here Friday.
“We have already communicated to the Election Commission two days ago that the delimitation process of new constituencies as per the report of Constituency Delimitation Commission has been completed,” he said.
The voters list for 100 redrawn constituencies is ready and the one for the remaining 124 seats will be ready by March 22, Ramaseshan said.
The Election Commission had set the first week of April as deadline for completing the delimitation exercise as part of its plan to hold the assembly polls before the president’s rule completes six months in May.
The state was placed under the president’s rule Nov 20 after the collapse of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led ministry as the coalition partner Janata Dal-Secular party withdrew support.
Assembly elections will have to be held before the expiry of the six-month term of the president’s rule. Extension of the central rule requires a prior parliamentary approval.
State election officials say they are working on several sets of dates of the polls for the central election authorities to decide. It was too early to mention any specific dates now, they say.
The redrawing of the constituencies does not alter the strength of the assembly, which remains at 224 plus one nominated member.
More than 80 constituencies across Karnataka have been redrawn giving more seats to Scheduled Castes and Tribes and increasing the number of seats in Greater Bangalore urban district, reflecting the changing demographics in accordance with the 2001 census.