Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat on Friday said the election panel would assess if Telangana can go to the polls with four other states later this year, ANI reported. The decision will depend on the ground realities in the state, he added.

A team of the Election Commission will visit the state on September 11 to examine the situation and submit its report to the panel, reported ANI.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the state Assembly on Thursday, paving the way for early elections. The Assembly’s term was to come to an end in June 2019 and elections to both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were due to be held along with the general elections. Rao and his council of ministers will now continue as the caretaker government till the elections.

“The Assembly was dissolved suddenly so we have asked the chief electoral officer there for a report on their level of preparedness, what work they still have to do and the time frame they need to be ready for the election, so that the poll panel can keep it in mind and assess the time frame to hold elections within the legal framework,” NDTV quoted Rawat as saying.

He pointed out that the Supreme Court had said in 2002 that the Election Commission should not give a caretaker government more than six months in charge. The court had also said that in case of dissolution the election should be held on the first occasion. “Keeping in mind these rulings, legal framework and ground realities in Telangana, the commission will decide on the elections there,” Rawat added.