Same rule for all parties: EC

NEW DELHI, June 28: Amid continuing confusion in the Janata Dal on the fate of the party elections slated for July 3, the Election Commissi...

NEW DELHI, June 28: Amid continuing confusion in the Janata Dal on the fate of the party elections slated for July 3, the Election Commission has said it will stick by its rules for defaulting parties.

Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurty told journalists that the Commission would abide by the July 3 deadline fixed by the Supreme Court for the Janata Dal to hold its internal elections. Ruling out different standards for different political parties over the issue of holding organisational polls, Elections Commissioner G V G Krishanmurty said the Commission would follow the directives of the apex court.

Last month when the Congress party unilaterally decided to delay organisational elections to July 15, the Election Commission had issued a show-cause notice to the party to give reasons why its office-bearers should not be 8220;derecognised8221;. The Commission8217;s threat that it would cease to accept, entertain or honour any communication from the office-bearers had the desired effect and senior party leaders renegotiated with the EC for a fresh date of June 15, by which time party elections were held.

The Commission has decided to issue show cause notices to three regional parties on the same grounds. The notices, issued to the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples8217; Conference, All Party Hill Leaders Conference and the Public Demand Implementation Convention, asks why the EC should 8220;not cease to accept, entertain or honour any communication from their office bearers8221; as they had failed to meet the June 15 deadline for carrying out inner party elections.

8220;The Commission will not adopt different standards for different political parties,8221; Krishnamurty said today, stressing that the principle behind last month8217;s show cause notice to the Congress with a virtual threat of derecognition would be applied to all.

Krishnamurty said the Commission had received a communication from Bapu Kaldate saying the organisational polls in the Janata Dal had been held on May 10, 1990 in which senior JD leader S R Bommai was elected unopposed.

Questioned about the issue of party whips in the upcoming Presidential poll, Krishanmurty said even though the Commission has issued no formal order on his proposal that a whip was tantamount to an 8220;undue influence8221;, political parties were fully aware of the consequences of any electoral malpractices.

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Any attempt to coerce members of the electoral college to cast their vote for any particular candidate in the July 14 poll for the President, could be challenged by the apex court, he emphasised.

Officer-bearers of 3 parties to be disqualified

The Election Commission EC is likely to derecognise the office bearers of three state political parties for not conducting organisational elections as stipulated under their constitutions, Commission sources said. The parties are the Jammu and Kashmir People8217;s Conference, the All Parties Hill Leaders8217; Conference and the Public Demands Implementation Committee of Meghalaya.

The chief electoral officers of the two states had been asked to locate the office bearers with whom the Commission could communicate. The deadline for holding organisational elections was June 15. The Commission had received no communication from them so far, the sources added.

Meanwhile, the Commission was awaiting the ruling of the Supreme Court on the case relating to the organisational election of the Janata Dal. It would abide by the Supreme Court decision in this regard, said sources.