Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Premature polls

Sir, — The dissolution of the Lok Sabha before the expiry of its full term is unwarranted. Following this, a few States have also dissolved their State Assemblies, the latest being Karnataka, to have simultaneous polls. Premature dissolution of the legally and constitutionally formed Houses for no apparent reason is a betrayal of the public's will.

G. Venkataraman,
Thanjavur, T.N.

* * *

Sir, — This has reference to your editorial, "A confident move" (Feb. 18). As rightly mentioned, the Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna has boldly challenged conventional political wisdom by advancing the State's polls. The one factor that could help Mr. Krishna in the coming elections is his resoluteness in safeguarding the State's interests in water sharing.

T. Rajeswar Rao,
Hyderabad

* * *

Sir, — This refers to the article, " Elections at will anti-constitutional" (Feb. 17), which questions the belief that the President/Governor is bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers in the matter of dissolution of the House. It is well within the discretionary powers of the President/Governor to come to an independent conclusion. When the Constituent Assembly debated the subject, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said: "Election, after all, is not a simple matter. It involves a tremendous amount of cost and I think it would be unfair to impose both upon the government and upon the people the enormous cost of too frequent elections for short periods."

S. Masilamani,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — The article has rightly observed that the twisting of the provision to advance polls is a fraud on democracy. The Governor of Karnataka should set a precedent by not accepting the recommendations of the Krishna Government. It will serve as an eye-opener to other States where the leaders will put governance and economics before the chemistry of forming alliances.

K. Narayanan,
Chennai

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