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Full Election Commission to visit Gujarat

In a significant decision, the three-member Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh will make a three-day visit to Gujarat starting on Thursday for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation to decide whether to hold early assembly election there or not.

This is the first time that all the members of the multi-member Election Commission would be visiting a state before taking a decision on holding polls.

Lyngdoh and the other two Commissioners T S Krishnamurthy and B V Tandon will visit Ahmedabad, Vadodara and some other areas for two to three days, the sources said.

The decision comes in the wake of an informal briefing of the law and order situation in the state made by a nine-member EC team.

The ruling BJP wants the poll to be held before the October deadline when a constitutional requirement for a mandatory meeting of the assembly may arise.

But it is being stiffly opposed by opposition parties, who feel that time is not conducive for election when the state was yet to recover fully from the worst communal riots in recent years in which nearly 800 people, mostly belonging to the minority community were killed.

The full Commission will meet in Delhi after its return to take a decision, the sources said.

The nine-member team is likely to give its full report to the Commission on Friday morning, they said.

The sources also said that the nine-member team felt that a significant number of minorities were still living outside their homes and would not be in a position to take part in the electoral process.

Gujarat Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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