|
New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) of India on Tuesday announced schedules to hold polls in five states between November 14 and December 4.
The five states going to polls are Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Delhi and Rajasthan.
However, no schedule has so far been announced for Jammu and Kashmir giving rise to speculation that the strife-torn state may elect its new assembly along with the new Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) next year.
According to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N. Gopalaswami, the EC has not taken any decision regarding the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls. "We are monitoring the situation in the state and will let you know once we have taken a decision," the CEC told a news conference while announcing schedule for the remaining five states.
Barring Chhattisgarh, polling will be held in a single phase in all states. The Naxal-affected state of Chhattisgarh, comprising 39 of 90 seats, will vote in the first phase on November 14, the remaining seats go to polls on November 20.
The upcoming provincial polls are seen as a virtual dress rehearsal for the next general elections, which in normal course is due to be held in April-May next year.
Indications
There are, however, indications that the ruling coalition may opt for early polls early next year, based on the outcomes in these states.
The ensuing polls will be crucial for both the Congress party, which heads the ruling coalition at the centre, and its main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while Congress is in power in the Delhi state assembly. Mizo National Front, a regional party, is in power in Mizoram.
Incidentally, BJP had managed to oust the Congress from power in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2003, but it failed to have any larger impact on the general elections since the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance lost power at the centre when the general elections were held in the next few months.
These five states together elect 73 members to the Lok Sabha. BJP had won 55 of them in 2004 general elections while the Congress could win only 17. Mizo National Front had won the lone Lok Sabha seat from Mizoram. The poll process gets underway with the issuance of notification for the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh on October 20 and concludes with polling in Rajasthan on December 4.
Counting of votes will be taken up for all states on December 8. Since electronic voting machines will be used in all 630 constituencies, results are expected to be announced the same day.
With the announcement of the schedule, the model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect, which means neither the federal nor the respective state governments can announce any new policies in the poll-bound states or use government machinery in any way that can influence the voters.
BJP criticises delay
The Election Commission's failure to announce polls in Jammu and Kashmir has annoyed the Bharatiya Janata Party.
While BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley expressed his disappointment and demanded polls in the state along with the five states, the state unit of the BJP accused the Election Commission of dancing to the tune of the Congress, accusing it of acting at the behest of the ruling party.
Barring the BJP, most of the political parties are not in favour of early polls in the state, which is under the President's rule since July 10. Of them, the Congress and the National Conference have officially stated that although they are not in favour of early polls in the state since the situation was not conducive, they will go with the EC decision in this regard.
|
