NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) will start reviewing preparedness of states for the Lok Sabha elections with a visit to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu next week.

The Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and comprising Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel will be in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu between January 7 and 10.

Ahead of the visit, deputy election commissioners will brief the full commission about the preparations in the two states on January 6.

The deputy election commissioners have visited almost all the states to oversee the preparation for the Lok Sabha polls.

It is usual for the EC to tour states ahead of assembly or Lok Sabha elections to meet political parties, senior police and administrative officials and its ground poll machinery.

It is, however, not yet certain whether the EC will visit all the states and union territories. It may skip states where assembly polls were held recently.

In 2019, the Lok Sabha elections were announced on March 10 and held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. Votes were counted on May 23.