Telangana EC dismisses reports of simultaneous state polls, asks media to verify poll-related info before publishing them

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEC) Rajat Kumar on Saturday refuted reports that a decision has been taken by the Election Commission (EC) to club the Assembly elections of Telangana with that of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh.[caption id="attachment_4962511" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat. PTI[/caption]"The Chief Electoral Officer, Rajat Kumar, has refuted the reports that a decision has been taken by the EC, to club the Assembly elections of Telangana with that of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh. Referring to the news item published in some newspapers on Saturday, the CEO said that such reports are purely speculations," said a release from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer."He requested that all press and media reports on election-related matters should only be issued after due authentication from the authorities concerned," the release further stated. The elections for the Telangana Assembly were originally due to be held in June next year, however, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao dissolved the state Assembly and decided to go for early polls earlier this month.However, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat dismissed the possibility of simultaneous elections, and said the new election schedule is yet to be announced.Chhattisgarh is scheduled to go to polls later this year with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram.