As the BJP gets set to decide on early Lok Sabha polls, it is likely to drag along two Congress-ruled states — Maharashtra and Karnataka — to the Assembly polls. The two states, along with Andhra Pradesh, had gone to polls simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections last time.The Election Commission can advance the general elections by six months from the due date. While the BJP is likely to pitch for Lok Sabha polls April-end or early May, the Congress, though it might protest, would see no logic in pressing for Assembly poll four months later, ie. in September. The BJP is particularly keen on advancing the polls in Maharashtra, where it hopes to oust the Congress-NCP combine from power.Sources said the party plans to time its early-poll move in such a manner that Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh does not get a chance to set the election schedule. Lyngdoh completes his term by the middle of February. And, since the Government has to obtain a vote-on-account from Parliament for dissolution of the Lok Sabha, a brief session is likely to be convened in February.While Samata leader and Defence Minister George Fernandes is already game, DPM L.K.Advani secured the support of concurrence of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray in Mumbai today.BJP sources said party president M. Venkaiah Naidu is consulting other allies. TDP leader N. Chandrababu Naidu has already declared that he is not averse to simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. The BJP is likely to have a clear picture by the time the national executive meets in Hyderabad on January 11 and 12.
