Thursday, March 3, 2011
Congress was budgeting for Assembly polls
Posted on
Thursday, March 03, 2011
The Congress was 'budgeting' for elections after all: the secret was out on Tuesday with the Election Commission announcing Assembly elections in five states of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in April and May.
The announcement puts in perspective the ' harmless' Budget that Pranab Mukherjee tabled in the House on Monday. Given the high stakes in the April- May battle, the Congress did not wish to stick its neck out by announcing any radical measures. In what is touted as a mini- general election, the results will be out on May 13. Political analysts said the electoral battle would be a pointer to the people's mood in the context of the raging corruption scandals and price rise. The stakes for the Congress are especially high and it will be desperate to win in at least two states.
In this context, the most significant result state is Tamil Nadu, whose ruling DMK is in the thick of the spectrum allocation scandal, with one of its leaders and former cabinet minister A. Raja now in prison. The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu will lead its alliance against a resurgent AIADMK However, the keenest contest is expected in West Bengal, where the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India- Marxist, which has been in power since 1977, faces its most serious challenge. The Left Front's biggest threat comes from Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, which has vowed to unseat the Marxists and form a government.
In Kerala, the coalitions led by the Left and the Congress will take on each other. In Assam, the ruling Congress faces a divided opposition.
West Bengal will have elections spread over six phases, starting from April 18 to May 10, while Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will have polls on a single day on April 13 and Assam will have a 2- phase poll on April 4 and 11. The poll dates in West Bengal are April 18, 23 and 27, May 3, 7 and 10. Because of the long poll phase in the Left- ruled State, the other states will have to wait for a month before the counting of votes takes place simultaneously on May 13.
Chief Election Commissioner S Quraishi announced that the code of conduct for elections comes into force in all five states with immediate effect. Among the innovations is a call centre with a toll free No 1965 which anybody can call for lodging complaints. Also, the Election Commission will itself be issuing voter slips with photos. Until recently, the political parties would hand over the slips to voters at polling booths on election day. The election staff will verify the slips before allowing a person to cast his vote.
Notifications for the elections in Assam will be issued on March 10 and 18, respectively, while the notification for elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will be issued on March 19. The polls kick off in West Bengal with the notification for the first phase of polling on March 24, followed by March 30, April 2, 7, 11 and 14. Meanwhile, the government is under pressure to re- schedule the Parliament sittings to allow the political parties time for poll campaign. They want the recess from March 16 to April 4 shortened to finish off the session by end of March or extend the recess and hold the remainder of the session after May 10.
Under the present schedule, the second half of the budget session is to be held from April 4 through April 21, but this does not suit the parties as the dates clash with the polls in all states, including Assam, which will have its second phase on April 11. The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry sources said it would be difficult to shorten the recess, which is given to allow the standing committees to vet the budgets ministry- wise, as otherwise it is difficult for Parliament to discuss all demands.
However, if all parties agree, the recess period can be cut down by a week, sources said, adding that the government would be game for the second half of the session taking place in May as it has a long agenda of some 70 legislations to be passed, besides the finance bills.
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