Sena does a climbdown, agrees to simultaneous polls

Thackeray had, on Sunday, declared that under no circumstance would he agree to simultaneous polls since the Sena-BJP alliance had been elected for a full five-year term and that it would be unwise to advance the Assembly elections by six months. However, political considerations prompted Thackeray to do a rethink.

8220;The official announcement on simultaneous elections was to be made on Tuesday, after the meeting of the coordination committee. However, owing to the absence of State BJP president Suryabhan Wahadane, the decision was postponed. Now, the decision will be announced in a day or two by senior party leaders,8221; the Minister added.

Soon after Parliament was dissolved, both Chief Minister Narayan Rane and Munde had declared they were in favour of simultaneous elections, believing the alliance would benefit from a favourable atmosphere.

However, while Munde subsequently maintained there was no change in his stand, Rane did a volte face upon Thackeray8217;s directives.

The BJP8217;s contention was that it would be wise to hold simultaneous polls in view of the changed political situation in the country, particularly the sympathy wave for the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government.

Further, with the Congress having split, simultaneous polls would help the alliance. 8220;We feel that if simultaneous elections are held, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar will be in no position to concentrate on Maharashtra. In that case, there will be large-scale division of Congress votes, which will benefit the alliance,8221; the Minister added.

However, the Shiv Sena took the stand that the alliance would lose a precious five months, if the elections were advanced. 8220;On some occasions, one does have to take political decisions, but in this case, we feel we should not go in for simultaneous polls. In the remaining four months, we will be able to perform better, which will help the alliance improve its performance in the Assembly elections,8221; said a Shiv Sena Minister.

Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer D K Sankaran said his department was prepared to hold simultaneous elections after July 21. 8220;The decision has to be taken by the Election Commission. If it so directs, we are prepared to hold simultaneous elections,8221; Sankaran said.

Sankaran said the revision of the electoral register will be completed by July 20 and the final list of voters officially published on July 21.

On the expenditure involved, Sankaran said an estimated Rs 105 crore will be required for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections each. 8220;If elections are held separately, the expenditure will be around Rs 200 crore to Rs 210 crore. However, if the elections are held simultaneously, the expenditure will be reduced by at least Rs 50 crore,8221; Sankaran added.

A senior official said the Cabinet will have to recommend dissolution of the Assembly to the Governor before elections are held.