The Telangana assembly has been dissolved and the expectation is that the state will go to polls along with four other states later this year. But then, there is a big "IF". This statement has come from none other than Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat.

"Elections will not be held along with other states this year if poll preparedness is not satisfactory. Elections can be held in January or February in Telangana which has time up to March 5, 2019 for the constitution of the new Assembly," Rawat has said.

"There is a compulsion that it must be held within six months but let me clarify there is no such law. This six months time frame is based on a Supreme Court ruling. The apex court says elections must be held at the first instance after the dissolution of a state assembly and should not be delayed more than six months," the CEC further stated.

He said that it will be a risk to hold immediate elections if the state is not prepared. The Election Commission hasn't yet come to a conclusion on the election schedule in Telangana, he added.

"We have asked the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana about the level of preparedness. We got his inputs and have sent a team from here. The Commission always verifies on the ground whatever claim is made about poll preparedness," the CEC has been quoted as saying by a news agency.

If elections are not held this year in Telangana, the state will have to wait till January or February.

Has KCR, the Chief Minister, spoken to him about the polls? "The CM never met us or talked to me," the CEC said.