The Hindu : The seven-week countdown begins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 01, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

The seven-week countdown begins

By A. Jayaram

BANGALORE, FEB. 29. With the Election Commission announcing the dates of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State — April 20 and 26 — , it will be seven weeks of high-pitch electioneering all over the State to woo the electorate.

The Ministers, and the former MPs and MLAs will be driven to the doorsteps of the common people pleading for their votes. In the fray will be many new entrants to politics or those who have never won before. The major political parties in the State have braced themselves for the simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly, and they were expecting the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, to make the announcement for at least two months. The ruling Congress could not take the opposition by surprise as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President, B. Janardhana Poojary, was categorical over simultaneous elections, though he was contradicting the Chief Minister.

It will be for the sixth time that the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are being held together in the State. From 1952 to 1967, the elections were simultaneous. It was after a long gap of 32 years that such elections were held in the State on September 5 and 11, 1999. However, there was a third phase of Assembly elections on October 3 that year. It was the three-phase Assembly elections last time that delayed the announcement of the results and the formation of the Government. Mr. Krishna assumed office on October 11, 1999 about five weeks after the first phase of polling.

A total number of 3,75,26317 voters (1,90,64591 men and 1,84,61726 women) find their names on the final electoral rolls prepared with reference to 2003. It is a nine per cent increase over the electorate of 1999 (3,42,84481).

The Home Minister, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, stated in Hubli today that the State was ready to hold the elections in a fair and free manner. Even otherwise, the Election Commission has come to regard Karnataka as one of the peaceful States in respect of conduct of elections. Poll-related violence is limited to certain districts, though the State has its quota of sensitive polling booths.

With the election code of conduct coming into force, the announcements by the Government and the foundation-laying ceremonies will come to an end. The Chief Minister fulfilled the last of the commissioning of projects on Saturday when he declared open one of the power generating units at the Alamatti Dam through video conferencing.

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