The Hindu : Lok Sabha polls from April 20; results on May 13

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Monday, Mar 01, 2004

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Lok Sabha polls from April 20; results on May 13

By J. Venkatesan

The Chief Election Commissioner, T.S. Krishnamurthy, with the Election Commissioner, B.B. Tandon, announcing the poll schedule in New Delhi on Sunday. _ Photo: Ramesh Sharma

NEW DELHI, FEB. 29. Elections for the 14th Lok Sabha will be held in four phases, on April 20 and 26; May 5 and 10. With the announcement of the dates, the model code of conduct comes into force with immediate effect.

The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), T.S. Krishnamurthy, along with the two Election Commissioners, B.B. Tandon and N. Gopalaswamy, told a press conference here today that Assembly elections would be held simultaneously in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, they will be held in two phases on April 20 and 26. In Sikkim, it will be held on May 10.

Counting is scheduled for May 13 and the results will be announced the same day, except in Andhra Pradesh where the counting will be done on May 11 or 12. This is to enable a new government to be put in place by May 13, when the six-month deadline from the date of the dissolution of the House expires in Andhra Pradesh.

The entire election process will be completed by May 25.

In the first phase on April 20, polling will be held in 14 States and two Union Territories, namely, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

On April 26, 11 States will witness elections. On May 5, seven States will go to the hustings. On May 10, the final day, 16 States, four Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi will have elections.

This will be the first time in India that electronic voting machines will be used in all the parliamentary and Assembly constituencies.

While Jammu and Kashmir will have four-day polling, in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh it will be a three-day event. It will be over two days in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur and Orissa. The remaining States and all the Union Territories will have single-day polling. The notification for the first phase will be issued on March 24. The polling in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka will be on April 20 and 26. Tamil Nadu and Kerala will go to the polls on May 10.

Stern warning

Any violations of the model code of conduct would be dealt with seriously, Mr. Krishnamurthy said. Warning political parties, he said the Commission would not be a "mere spectator" and would not hesitate to order a re-poll wherever it found any irregularity or violation of the code. "We appeal to the political parties to field their best representatives, not to indulge in violence, criminal activities and any personal attacks during campaigning."

The CEC said political parties must bear in mind that "good governance" and the "voters' response" would decide the fate of the candidates. They should conduct themselves responsibly in order to uphold the country's democratic traditions, he added.

Mr. Krishnamurthy asked bureaucrats, State election officers, the police, the paramilitary forces and other officials to join hands to ensure "clean, free and fearless elections''. He urged them not to act in a partisan manner. There would be compulsory identification of voters and the number of additional documents, apart from the photo identity cards, that will need to be produced will vary from State to State. The emphasis would be on some form of identification with a photograph.

The CEC said it was mandatory for all candidates to file affidavits along with their nomination papers. The affidavits shall furnish information on any criminal antecedents. They shall also list the movable and immovable properties of the candidate, his/her spouse and dependents besides any liabilities. Candidates' educational qualifications will need to be furnished too. In the absence of an affidavit, a nomination paper will be rejected by the Returning Officer.

It is mandatory for every candidate to furnish accounts of expenditure. The Commission had issued detailed guidelines on the manner in which these were to be submitted. It was incumbent upon the candidates to maintain daily accounts and furnish them to a designated officer on three occasions between the filing of nomination papers and the date of polling.

Expenditure observers

In order to strengthen monitoring, the Commission will appoint 2,000 expenditure observers, apart from special observers, in select constituencies. A cell would be set up in the Commission with income-tax experts to streamline the flow and analyse information on poll expenses.

The Commission said that in all the States, except in single-parliamentary constituency States and Union Territories, 50 per cent of the presiding officers and polling officers in every district would be from outside the district. As far as possible, the presiding officers would be drawn from among officials of the Central Government and, for the first time, from those of public sector undertakings. The private sector has also extended its full support to the conduct of elections, Mr. Krishnamurthy said.

He said the registration of new political parties will remain suspended until the completion of the election process on May 25.

`Let India shine'

On the criticism that India was not a "flawless democracy," the CEC said: "In our country, the polls are conducted much better than those in the advanced countries and nowhere in the world is there such a mammoth exercise. Let India shine in the management of elections,'' he said.

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