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India reschedules voting in two constituencies

NEW DELHI: Parliamentary elections in two Indian constituencies, which together have more than 900 candidates, have been rescheduled for May 27, the Election Commission said on Saturday.

Lower house (Lok Sabha) elections in Belgaum in Karnataka state had been set for April 27, while polling in Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh state had been scheduled for May 2.

But voting had to be postponed to provide special arrangements to handle the 456 candidates in Belgaum and 480 in Nalgonda. The final results in both constituencies will be announced by June 7, a commission official told Reuters.

The decision to reschedule polling in the two constituencies means voting for the Lok Sabha will take place on six days -- April 27 and May 2, 7, 23, 27 and 30. Previously no voting had been scheduled for May 27.

India, the world's most populous democracy with some 590 million eligible voters, staggers balloting over several weeks to allow time for security forces to move from one region to another.

The counting of ballots from all but six constituencies will begin on May 8, and a clear idea of the parties' relative strength should emerge by May 10.

The Election Commission has also rescheduled voting in one state assembly constituency, Mudakuruchi in Tamil Nadu state where 1,033 candidates are in the fray. Voting there will be held on June 1, with the results expected by June 8.

Five states and one union territory, Pondicherry, are holding state assembly elections at the same time as parliamentary polls. The states are Assam, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

More than 15,000 candidates are running for 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and more than 15,000 are in the fray for the assembly seats.-REuer