Election Commissioner Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath, the retired AP cadre IAS official, has been named the next Chief Election Commissioner, replacing S.Y. Quraishi, who will demit office on June 10. L

The Election Commission on Friday ruled out postponing the April 13 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu as demanded by major political parties, including the Opposition AIADMK, saying every issue was factored in before announcing the poll schedule.

Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi on Saturday favoured a ban on opinion polls before elections, saying they affected poll propects of political parties.