Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said that the court has given 30-days time to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for judicial remedy after he was convicted in a criminal defamation case, and said that the commission will wait before announcing bypolls in the Wayanad parliamentary constituency.

“We have six months’ time to hold a by-election after a seat falls vacant. The trial court has given 30 days time for judicial remedy. So, we will wait,” Kumar said in a press conference here. Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Lok Sabha on March 24 following his conviction by the Surat court in a criminal defamation case for the ‘Modi surname’ remark.

Asked about the Aam Aadmi Party’s status as the national party, the CEC said that its status is under review by the Commission.

When inquired about the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the CEC said that the commission is aware of the “vacuum” which needs to be filled.

“The SSR (special summary revision) was conducted on the date of October 1 in Jammu and Kashmir. SSR is conducted with a cut-off date of January 1 in the entire country. We did it there because we wanted to complete the process as fast as possible. This process is to bring them at par as far as the voter list is concerned with rest of the country. We are aware that there is a vacuum and that needs to be filled,” he said.

Earlier, the CEC announced the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly elections.
The polling would take place in a single phase on May 10, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.

The counting of votes will be done on May 13, the CEC said.
Detailing the data of the electors, the CEC said that there are a total of 5.21 crores in the state and the number of 100 plus voters is 16,976.

He informed that over 58,000 polling stations would be set up across the state.
“There are 224 Assembly constituencies of which 36 are reserved for the SCs and 15 for the STs. The total electorates in the state are 5,21,73,579 crores of which males are 2.62 crores and females are 2.59 crores. The total number of 80 plus electors is 12.15 lakhs. It is an increase of 32 per cent from 2018. It also includes 16,976 proud electors who are 100 plus. The number of persons with disabilities (PWDs) has increased to 5.55 lakhs. This is an increase of close to 150 per cent,” Kumar said.

He said that the first-time voters have increased from 2018-19 by 9.17 lakhs in Karnataka.
“All young voters who are turning 18 years of age by April 1, will be able to vote in the Karnataka Assembly elections,” he said.

The CEC also laid down the security measures for the identified sensitive booths in the state.

“There are 58,282 polling stations in Karnataka of which 20,866 are urban. The average number of electors per polling station comes to 883. On all the sensitive booths which have been identified, we take four to five measures. Either there would CAPF, or web-casting or a micro-observer. With the combination of all of these, we tend to put more vigour and vigil on the sensitive booths,” he informed.

“There would be 240 model polling stations which will be made eco-friendly and green booths. 100 booths would be managed purely by persons with disability,” Kumar added explaining the measures taken by the ECI for attracting the youth to vote.