Biennial polls to legislative councils in 4 states on December 10: Election Commission

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Biennial elections to the legislative councils in Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh from 42 local authorities' constituencies will be held on December 10, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.

The term of office of the eight sitting members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from seven local authorities' constituencies is going to expire on January 1 next year, the poll panel said in a statement. With regard to local authorities' constituencies election, the commission has laid down the guidelines that if at least 75 per cent of the local authorities in a local authorities' constituency are functioning, and in addition at least 75 per cent of the electors out of the total electorate of the constituency are available, then electorate is treated as available for electing representatives to the legislative council, it said.

According to the information received from the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Maharashtra, the existence of constituent local body functioning is more than 75 per cent in five out of the seven local authorities' constituencies, the Election Commission (EC) said. The commission has decided to hold biennial elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council from five local authorities' constituencies for six seats, including two of Mumbai.

In another statement, the EC said the term of office of the 12 sitting members of the Telangana Legislative Council from nine local authorities' constituencies is going to expire on January 4 next year. The commission has decided to hold biennial elections to the Telangana Legislative Council from the above mentioned nine local authorities' constituencies, it said.

In another statement, the EC said the term of office of the 25 sitting members of the Karnataka Legislative Council from 20 local authorities' constituencies is going to expire on January 5 next year. Now, the commission has decided to hold biennial elections to Karnataka Legislative Council from the above-mentioned 20 local authorities' constituencies, it said.

The term of office of 11 sitting members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council from eight local authorities' constituencies had expired on August 8 this year.
The commission having re-assessed the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Andhra Pradesh and after taking into consideration all relevant facts, has now decided to conduct biennial election to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council from eight local authorities' constituencies, the statement said.

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While the polls for all the legislative council seats will be held on December 10, the counting of votes will take place on December 14, the EC said. The election process has to be completed by December 16. Broad guidelines of Covid-19 as already issued by EC as well as the recent guidelines issued by it would be followed, wherever applicable, during the entire election process for all persons.

The Model Code of Conduct concerning the said elections will come into force with immediate effect in the concerned Constituency, the EC said. The chief secretaries of the states have also been directed to depute a senior officer to ensure that the extant instructions regarding Covid-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections, it said.

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