COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

EC officials hint at September poll

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Despite the strident demand of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies that the mid-term election be held in June, senior officials of the Election Commission today indicated that it is more likely to be held in September.

Speaking to Rediff On The NeT anonymously, they said Chief Election Commissioner Manohar Singh Gill, who is a "stickler for rules", has indicated that the commission's procedures will be meticulously followed. These include revision of the electoral roles, which is specifically mentioned in the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1956, and is a time-consuming affair. This practically rules out a hasty election in June.

The likely date, they said, is September, but did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, in an apparent attempt to cash in on the perceived sympathy for the BJP in the electorate following the defeat of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the BJP today sought to fortify its demand to holding the election in June.

Party vice-president Krishan Lal Sharma said the party wants an early election because, one, a delay will harm the economy and, two, educational institutions are closed in June and can be easily made available for polling. Besides, a delay will also result in administrative chaos, he said.

Sharma asked for the all-party meeting summoned by the CEC to discuss the election date to be advanced.

He also advocated the need to look for a way out of frequent elections, for which the EC should take cognisance of various suggestions for electoral reform.

Sharma also introduced to the press former Tamil Nadu health minister H V Hande who has resigned from the Tamil Maanila Congress to join the BJP.

Hande said he was forced to leave the TMC "because of the very wrong decision taken by Mr G K Moopanar in voting against the confidence motion moved by the prime minister".

He said Moopanar had assured party members that the TMC would stay neutral during the vote, but changed his mind after meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Hande remarked that he was born a British subject. "Let me at least die as a free citizen of my country and not as an Italian subject."

Meanwhile, in a statement, Ram Niwas Mirdha, chairman of the Congress central election authority, said that in view of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and the resultant mid-term poll, the intra-party election had been postponed.

Enrolment of new members, however, will continue till May 31, 1999.

Briefing reporters, Congress spokesman Arjun Singh said the scope and purview of a caretaker government was well known.

He observed that in a democratic system, everything is not written down, and "parliamentary traditions and norms have the force of law".

But he conceded that a caretaker government could hoist the Tricolour on the Red Fort on August 15.

Tell us what you think of this report