Hold bypolls, Lok Sabha elections together: State to EC
Murari Shetye | TNN | Feb 13, 2019, 06:20 IST
Picture used for representational purpose onlyPANAJI: The state government has told the Election Commission (EC) that the by-election and Lok Sabha polls should be held together, stating that development work would be hampered if the code of conduct was declared twice. A senior government official said that the EC would take a final decision on the request.
A cabinet minister told TOI that during the last cabinet meeting, the chief secretary informed members of the cabinet that he has communicated to the EC that if two separate elections are held, the state would have to face a long model code of conduct, and development work would be hampered.
The senior official said that later, chief minister Manohar Parrikar, via video-conferencing, also pushed for a single election. EC officials had visited Goa to take stock of election preparedness.
A source told TOI that the model code of conduct enforced twice would mean the administration would come to a halt for nearly five months. “The chief secretary has informed the EC to hold both elections in one go, and the panel will take a final call.”
Goa is set to go for bypolls to the Mandrem and Shiroda constituencies, as MLAs representing the two seats - Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar respectively, resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in mid-October 2018.
‘Poll code will affect entire state’
A few days later, Sopte was appointed chairman of Goa tourism development corporation while Shirodkar was made chairman of another government-run body - Economic development corporation. Shirodkar has since quit the post saying he needed time to concentrate in the constituency for the bypoll.
An official said that since Mandrem and Shiroda are in difference districts, the model code of conduct would affect the entire state. He said that the government is already functioning “slowly” due to chief minister Parrikar’s health, and if two model codes of conduct are enforced, the entire administration would come to a standstill.
Government sources said that the parliamentary election should be completed by May this year. Meanwhile, the bypolls would have to be held by April 15, as the new MLAs would have to be administered their oath by April 16.
Sources said that BJP has been trying to have the elections together as they stand to gain from it. If the bypoll was to be held earlier, the BJP would have been at a disadvantage. They would have had to work very hard to win the two seats. In case they were unable to do so, the results would have reflected or would have given ammunition to the opposition in the Lok Sabha polls.
More importantly, if Congress had to win the two, the governor and the Centre would have come under pressure to invite the Congress as the single-largest party to form the government. If not, the BJP feared that the Congress, in such an eventuality, would have gone to town against the BJP on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls.
A political commentator said that it was mainly for this political reason that the BJP decided to push for holding the two elections together.
A cabinet minister told TOI that during the last cabinet meeting, the chief secretary informed members of the cabinet that he has communicated to the EC that if two separate elections are held, the state would have to face a long model code of conduct, and development work would be hampered.
The senior official said that later, chief minister Manohar Parrikar, via video-conferencing, also pushed for a single election. EC officials had visited Goa to take stock of election preparedness.
A source told TOI that the model code of conduct enforced twice would mean the administration would come to a halt for nearly five months. “The chief secretary has informed the EC to hold both elections in one go, and the panel will take a final call.”
Goa is set to go for bypolls to the Mandrem and Shiroda constituencies, as MLAs representing the two seats - Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar respectively, resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in mid-October 2018.
‘Poll code will affect entire state’
A few days later, Sopte was appointed chairman of Goa tourism development corporation while Shirodkar was made chairman of another government-run body - Economic development corporation. Shirodkar has since quit the post saying he needed time to concentrate in the constituency for the bypoll.
An official said that since Mandrem and Shiroda are in difference districts, the model code of conduct would affect the entire state. He said that the government is already functioning “slowly” due to chief minister Parrikar’s health, and if two model codes of conduct are enforced, the entire administration would come to a standstill.
Government sources said that the parliamentary election should be completed by May this year. Meanwhile, the bypolls would have to be held by April 15, as the new MLAs would have to be administered their oath by April 16.
Sources said that BJP has been trying to have the elections together as they stand to gain from it. If the bypoll was to be held earlier, the BJP would have been at a disadvantage. They would have had to work very hard to win the two seats. In case they were unable to do so, the results would have reflected or would have given ammunition to the opposition in the Lok Sabha polls.
More importantly, if Congress had to win the two, the governor and the Centre would have come under pressure to invite the Congress as the single-largest party to form the government. If not, the BJP feared that the Congress, in such an eventuality, would have gone to town against the BJP on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls.
A political commentator said that it was mainly for this political reason that the BJP decided to push for holding the two elections together.
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