BJP, JD want poll schedule shortened

While the Janata Dal today wrote to the Commission stating its objections to the 20-day voting period from February 16 to March 7, the BJP plans to meet Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill in person to urge him to shorten the polling schedule.

In a letter to Gill, TMC president G K Moopanar has said: “We suggest that counting in 538 constituencies should be held immediately after February 28. It will have no impact on elections in the remaining three constituencies.”BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the BJP has decided to appeal to the Election Commission to alter the election schedule and reduce the 20-day poll period to 13 days.

The elections to the three seats in Jammu and Kashmir, to be held on March 7, could be held on February 27 or 28, Swaraj said. Since this is the only State scheduled to go to the polls on March 7, the election schedule could be changed without too much trouble.

JD Secretary General Bapu Kaldate said such an “unusually long schedule, it is apprehended, will increase the chances of tinkering with ballot boxes and other types of manipulation and manoeuvering irrespective of all the security arrangements that may be made.”

Referring to Bihar and UP, Kaldate, in his letter to the EC, said: “In every election (in the two States) all types of manipulation and malpractices have been widespread.”

The Congress is of the opinion that the matter should be left to the EC which should take the responsibility for the safety of the ballot boxes once the polls are over.

“The main thing is that the polls are free and fair and if the EC wants to stagger the polls to ensure the availability of para-military forces in sensitive areas, that job should be left to them,” said Margaret Alva, Congress spokesperson.

The Commission has justified the six-day intervals between the poll dates scheduled for February 16, 22 and 28 and March 7, saying that it is the minimum time required for the movement of paramilitary forces and the security arrangements for the conduct of the poll.

Compared with the schedules of earlier polls, this time round the time-table for the entire country except Jammu and Kashmir, runs to 13 days. Including the six-day interval before the J and K polls, increases the poll schedule to 21 days.

The EC has repeatedly emphasised that the polls in J and K be held along with the rest of the country.

The EC held at least five rounds of discussions with the Home Ministry officials in the weeks preceding the announcement of the schedule, including two rounds in which the full Commission and the Union Home Secretary were present, to discuss the law and order situation and security arrangements.

In another development, the Rajasthan government has asked the EC to hold Lok Sabha polls in two phases in the State.

The State Chief Secretary, after a series of meetings with Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and senior officials, has written to the EC that polls in the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State be conducted in two phases instead of only on February 16.

The EC plans to monitor the expenses of political parties in the polls and to make it mandatory for parties to file statements of receipts and expenditure, Gill said today.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, the CEC said all parties will be provided with a comprehensive proforma to record poll-related expenditure. Political parties will have to maintain records of the number of aircraft hired, persons who travel in them and the receipt of payments made for hiring such aircraft.

The Commission has directed the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, to keep a check on the manifests of private flights, including helicopters, hired by various political parties for election work. The parties have also been directed to conduct all transactions through cheques.