UP polls in phases from March

The Election Commission (EC) has decided in principle to hold union parishad polls across the country in phases starting from March.
In this regard, the EC is taking preparation to hold elections in 4100 union parishads out of the total 4571 amid ongoing municipal elections, a senior EC official told the Daily
Observer on Monday.
The Commission is likely to announce the polls schedule in February, he also said.
However, the first phase of municipal election has already been held. The second phase polls in 61 municipalities will be held on January 16.
The EC has announced four phases of polls schedules of municipalities that will continue till February, he said, adding that the EC would begin holding the UP polls from March.
In the last UP polls, the EC held UP polls in six phases in 2016.
Senior Secretary of EC, Md Alamgir said the commission is preparing to hold Union Parishad polls in 8-9 phases across the country.
The EC wants to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the maximum number of UPs of the country, he said, adding that the Commission would also use ballot papers in the polls. According to the local government election laws (Union Parishads), elections should be held before 180 days of expiry of the tenure of the elected body of a UP.