The Hindu : Front Page : Poll panel decision comes as no surprise to political parties

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Friday, Mar 21, 2008
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Poll panel decision comes as no surprise to political parties

S. Rajendran

Chief Election Commissioner had given a fair indication of it earlier

BANGALORE: The announcement by the Election Commission on Thursday that Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held before the May 28 deadline has not really come as a surprise to the political parties here given the categorical statement of the Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami, during a trip to Bangalore about a fortnight ago that the Election Commission is committed to holding elections in May.

Interestingly, while some of the political parties have expressed reservations over holding elections before the expiry of the six-month period of President’s Rule since in their view there are serious anomalies in the electoral rolls, the Bharatiya Janata Party is upbeat over the decision.

The same is the case with the Janata Dal (Secular) with its president and former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, and the former Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy, expressing appreciation over the decision of the Election Commission in sticking to its constitutional duty.

Sources in the Election Commission told The Hindu that the Assembly elections would be held in two phases, tentatively between May 10 and May 15, with the counting of votes scheduled some days later (May 20). With this, there would be adequate time for the formation of a new government, thus ensuring that the election process was completed ahead of the deadline.

The Election Commission is expected to hold discussions with the Chief Secretary, N. Sudhakar Rao, and the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police, K.R. Srinivasan, before finalising the poll dates.

It was also indicated that the Election Commission is yet to decide whether there should be a two-phase or a three-phase poll although elections in the State over the last few times have always been held in two phases given the requirement to ensure translocation of police personnel from one region to the other to ensure a free and fair poll.

While the elections to the constituencies in the Malnad region and the coastal areas will be held in one phase, elections in the other regions will be held in the other. Plans are afoot to tentatively have elections for 102 constituencies in one phase and the remaining of the 224 constituencies in the other. Karnataka has been free of any kind of law and order problem over the past few months.

Congress leaders here were hoping that elections would be held at a later date as the party had complained to the Election Commission about what it termed “serious lapses” in the revision of electoral rolls.

The Bahujan Samaj Party had also made a similar complaint when the full Election Commission visited Bangalore to review the preparations for the polls.

It is another matter that the Congress launched the Janandolana programme (to draw the attention of the people) nearly four months ago.

Mr. Deve Gowda told The Hindu that “the Election Commission has taken an independent decision much against the pressure exerted on it by some political parties which were keen on postponing elections. I welcome the decision of the Election Commission and hope that the commission has taken all steps to remove the anomalies in the voters list.”

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