Telangana gives Election Commission a migraine
NEW DELHI: The EC will meet on Friday to discuss the Telangana assembly polls after the Rao government dissolved the House more than eight months before the end of its term. EC will follow this up by sending a team of officials to assess the ground situation. The team’s feedback will be critical in deciding when the polls will be held.
According to EC’s preliminary assessment, finding suitable election date(s) would be tough. Article 174 requires that the gap between two sessions of a state assembly should not be more than six months. This would mean that in usual circumstance the Telangana polls cannot be pushed beyond February. EC, hence, would be forced to consider the option of scheduling Telangana assembly polls along with the ones due in MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram by the yearend, as TRS calculates.
If the polls are held thereafter, but before the Lok Sabha polls, it will leave the state elections within the period of being influenced by the yearend polls and also in a position to influence the Lok Sabha polls. Having burnt its fingers by announcing the HP and Gujarat elections separately last year, EC is likely to doubly cautious this time.
Though EC maintains that sufficient EVMs and VVPATs are in place to accommodate an additional assembly election, insiders say holding Telangana polls along with the four other states would stretch the ‘already strained’ polling machinery.
EC’s decision on Telangana will also depend on views of all political parties on the election schedule and the voters’ list. The current electoral rolls were issued in January but EC may prefer a revised roll to ensure maximum voter participation and a roll revision would require extra time.
According to EC’s preliminary assessment, finding suitable election date(s) would be tough. Article 174 requires that the gap between two sessions of a state assembly should not be more than six months. This would mean that in usual circumstance the Telangana polls cannot be pushed beyond February. EC, hence, would be forced to consider the option of scheduling Telangana assembly polls along with the ones due in MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram by the yearend, as TRS calculates.
If the polls are held thereafter, but before the Lok Sabha polls, it will leave the state elections within the period of being influenced by the yearend polls and also in a position to influence the Lok Sabha polls. Having burnt its fingers by announcing the HP and Gujarat elections separately last year, EC is likely to doubly cautious this time.
Though EC maintains that sufficient EVMs and VVPATs are in place to accommodate an additional assembly election, insiders say holding Telangana polls along with the four other states would stretch the ‘already strained’ polling machinery.
EC’s decision on Telangana will also depend on views of all political parties on the election schedule and the voters’ list. The current electoral rolls were issued in January but EC may prefer a revised roll to ensure maximum voter participation and a roll revision would require extra time.