Narayanan wants early polls

NEW DELHI, APRIL 29: President K.R. Narayanan is said to be of the view that elections should be held as early as possible. He had convey...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 29: President K.R. Narayanan is said to be of the view that elections should be held as early as possible. He had conveyed this to the Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill and to various party leaders who have called on him in the last few days.

The BJP and its allies have already made their preference known that they favour polls in June. They perceive a sympathy wave in favour of Atal Behari Vajpayee and want to cash in on it.

The Congress has made it known that it would not be averse to elections in September or October. Congress leader K. Karunakaran called on the President yesterday and is believed to have made a case about the difficulties of holding polls during the monsoons in states like Kerala.

The President who has met several party leaders has given an impression to them that the holding of early elections would be in the interest of the country. While the Constitution does not distinguish between a regular government and a caretaker one, Narayanan is believed to have referred to the limitations of a caretaker arrangement. A government that has been defeated on the floor of Parliament lacks credibility to take certain decisions.

To have a caretaker government in the saddle for four to five months is not a happy situation when there are important decisions on the anvil like the signing of the CTBT, and all the ongoing negotiations, economic and diplomatic, with Pakistan, China and the US.

The President8217;s responsibility increases in the given scenario, more so if unforeseen situations develop. There was tension between the then President R. Venkatraman and Chandra Shekhar when he was the caretaker Prime Minister over several decisions taken by the government at the time.

Eyebrows were raised in Rashtrapati Bhavan when Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill spoke to the Press soon after coming out of Rashtrapati Bhavan about the difficulties of holding early elections, as if that view had the Rashtrapati8217;s approval. Narayanan is believed to have advised the CEC to hold elections, but without specifying any dates.