Ahmedabad: Giving indications that the dates for the much awaited polls to the 182- member Gujarat Assembly could be announced soon, state chief electoral officer Gurcharan Singh and his deputy on October 24 rushed to New Delhi and "are scheduled for a routine meeting with the chief election commissioner (CEC) J M Lyngdoh".

"Singh and joint chief electoral officer J P Jadeja air-dashed to Delhi and will be holding a routine round of talks,"a senior state election department official said here.

Without divulging the agenda of the meeting, he said both the officials are expected to return in the evening.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been vehemently demanding for early polls in Gujarat, has also started gearing up the party poll machinery.

BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley had on October 23 told reporters at Gandhinagar that the party expected announcement of poll dates at the earliest.

PTI