NEW DELHI, 12 August — Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh, who returned here yesterday after an eventful visit to violence-hit Gujarat, said a decision on holding elections to the state assembly would be made in a "few days".

"We don’t want to say anything now. A decision will be taken in a few days," he told reporters on arriving here from Gujarat, where he spent the past two days meeting officials and victims of the sectarian violence that hit the state this year.

"Few days, not too long. We don’t sit over things," Lyngdoh told reporters when asked how long it would take the commission to announce a decision.

Lyngdoh, however, left behind an impression in Gujarat that elections in the state may not take place early.

After touring Ahmedabad and Baroda, the cities that were most affected by the sectarian strife, with election commissioners T.S. Krishnamurthy and B.B. Tandon, Lyngdoh described the situation in the state as "quite delicate".

A nine-member Election Commission that visited the state before Lyngdoh has apparently submitted a report saying that conditions in Gujarat were not conducive for holding early elections.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi resigned on July 19 forcing the dissolution of the state’s 182-member assembly and seeking early polls, preferably in September-October. Critics, including the opposition Congress party, say the election should be held only in February when they are due, because the situation in the state is yet to return to normalcy.

Lyngdoh, a former bureaucrat known for his no-nonsense attitude and probity, seems to have been taken aback by the efforts of Gujarat government officials to cover up the real extent of the sectarian violence.

During his visit to violence-wracked neighborhoods of Ahmedabad and Baroda, he snubbed and rebuked top officials for claiming the situation in the state was normal.

Reports said Lyngdoh was extremely critical of state officials and accused some officials of giving him incomplete information about the situation in the state.

The reports also said top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were upset with the "detailed scrutiny" of the state by the Election Commission and felt the commission had gone to the riot-ravaged state with "pre-conceived ideas".

The BJP, which also heads the central government, has denied it failed to act swiftly to restore order after the bloodshed erupted in February. Postponement of polls in the state could trigger a confrontation between the commission and the BJP which believes the state has returned to normal and is ready for elections.

But under the constitution, the election commission has the power to decide when polls can be held. Analysts say the BJP was counting on a wave of Hindu support to help it retain power in Gujarat, the last big state still under its control.