Shimla, October 17
The Election Commission has outrightly rejected the Congress demand for deferment of Assembly elections and instead offered to advance the second-phase poll scheduled for December 19 by a fortnight to avoid a clash with the school examinations.
Chief election commissioner M.Gopalaswamy along with Navin Chawala and S.Y.Quraishi, the other two members, after ascertaining the views of the political parties and holding a series of meetings with the officers right from the chief secretary and the DGP down to deputy commissioners and superintendents of police came to the conclusion that there was no need for altering the election schedule.
Briefing mediapersons before leaving for Delhi, Gopalaswamy said that the chairperson of the school board of education B.R.Rahi had informed the commission that the board had a tentative plan to hold the annual examinations from December 4 to 20 but before it could notify the schedule the Assembly elections were announced. Gopalaswamy said Rahi told him that since the commission had already notified the election schedule it was for the board to make adjustments so that there was no clash with the examinations. However, the commission was open to advancement of the second phase of elections by a fortnight so that examinations could be conducted after the poll process was over.
He said he had asked the chief secretary to convey the decision of the government
whether or not it wanted advancement of the second phase of elections within a day or two. He said it was not possible to hold elections in the entire state on November 14 along with the three tribal segments as only three days were left for issuing the notification for the first phase.
Regarding the anomalous situation likely to arise with the completion of the election process on December 31, when the outgoing Assembly will still have more than two months to go, he said there was no crisis as it had been made very clear in the Constitution that the election of a new House would not affect the term of the existing one and it could complete its term.
It is worth mentioning that no other party, except the ruling Congress, had pleaded for deferment of the poll.
He said there were a total of 40,03,301 voters in the state out of which 58.39 per cent had been issued photo identity cards earlier and there names in the electoral rolls would be published along with photographs. As of now 84.77 per cent voters had been issued photo identity cards. He directed the government to fill all vacancies of returning and assistant returning officer immediately and make arrangements for sealing the borders with adjoining states three days before polling.
There was no apprehension of violence during the elections but the state government had requested for central forces to make for the shortfall on manpower caused by vacancies.
