Opinion November 14, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Election Dates Out

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on November 14, 1984.

November 14, 2024 03:00 AM IST First published on: Nov 14, 2024 at 03:00 AM IST

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS will be held on December 24 and 27 — except for in Assam and Punjab. A separate programme will be fixed for them. This is the first time that two states are being excluded from a notification for the Lok Sabha elections. Chief Election Commissioner R K Trivedi said the notification will be issued on November 20 and counting will commence on December 28 with results expected the same evening.

PM Gandhi’s Appeal

PRIME MINISTER Rajiv Gandhi called for depoliticisation of administration. Gandhi said one of the problems being faced by the government was “unnecessary politicisation of administration at all levels. We must reduce it and if possible get rid of it.” He referred to the need for improving the quality of civil services and politics, elimination of corruption and education to promote a national outlook.

Congress Candidates

THE AICC(I) GENERAL secretary, Arun Nehru, has said that the main criterion for the selection of Congress (I) candidates for the Lok Sabha elections would be their “goodness”, and not whether they were sitting MPs. Nehru, a close advisor of PM Rajiv Gandhi told newsmen that age and caste would not come in the way of giving tickets for election.

Swraj Paul’s Case

SWRAJ PAUL, THE industrialist, appeared to be unnerved by the Bombay High Court’s judgment that upheld the right of Escorts not to register the transfer of shares in his name while indicating that in the business deal foreign exchange regulations had been violated. Paul said that the judgment had created three classes of shareholders, with one being public financial institutions “which henceforth would have to stay on the sidelines of a company”.