The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Delimitation: parties keep their fingers crossed

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Thursday, Jan 10, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Delimitation: parties keep their fingers crossed

S. Rajendran

Election Commission team arrives in Bangalore to assess poll preparedness
Elections to the State Assembly have to be completed by May

Bangalore: All the major political parties in the State are eagerly awaiting the decision of the three-member Election Commission on the election calendar for the next round of Assembly elections.

Led by Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, the three-member team of the Commission is on a two-day visit to Bangalore to assess the preparedness of the authorities here for the coming polls.

The anxiety of the major political parties concerns the possibility of elections as per the recommendations contained in the report of the Kuldip Singh Commission on Delimitation of constituencies or whether status quo would be maintained.

Until six months ago, it was believed that the commission’s report would be implemented only in 2009. The State Assembly was dissolved in November 2006, and elections have to be completed by May.

Aspirants for ticket in various political parties are not really sure of the constituency from where they could contest. Even the leaders of political parties have not yet started the exercise of finalising a tentative list of candidates.

Meeting

Mr. Gopalaswami along with the other two Election Commissioners Navin Chawla and S.Y. Quraishi met top officials of the State Secretariat and the police on the overall preparation for a smooth conduct of the elections. They are also expected to meet the representatives of political parties.

The former Prime Minister and president of the Janata Dal (Secular) H.D. Deve Gowda, who called on Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Monday, told The Hindu here that the Janata Dal (Secular) wanted the Assembly elections to be conducted within the six-month deadline.

“We are not concerned whether the constituencies are redrawn as per the recommendations of the Kuldip Singh Commission on Delimitation or whether the earlier constituencies remain. But elections should be held as per schedule,” he said.

Reservation

With the implementation of the report, the names of several constituencies would change. Constituencies which have been in the reserved list for long would also be part of the general list while many in the general pool would be reserved.

Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party have already stated that elections should be held at the earliest.

The Congress, which has already launched the its campaign, has an open mind on the issue.

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