Author:
Publication: Free Press Journal
Date: March 1, 2009
AN announcement of the month-long Lok Sabha
election dates tentatively fixed on Sunday has been delayed as Election Commissioner
Navin Chawla suddenly proceeded on a two-day leave, amid speculation that
it gives more time to the government to make announcements without attracting
censure under the model code of conduct.
The Election Commission learnt about Chawla's
leave on Friday only when it got a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhawan
on the President sanctioning his leave, upsetting the plans to which he was
privy to finalise the schedule on Saturday and make the formal announcement
on Sunday.
The election schedule may be announced now
only on Tuesday or latest by Wednesday after a full bench of the Election
Commission holds a formal meeting to approve the dates of polling and the
phases in which the Lok Sabha polls will take place. It has also to simultaneously
fix the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Tripura.
Sources said Chief Election Commissioner N
Gopalaswami could have gone ahead with holding the meeting to finalise the
schedule even without Chawla as there was nothing wrong in he and colleague
Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi sit together and decide. He, however, chose
not to short-circuit the full bench meeting, but to wait for Chawla's return
on Tuesday.
POLLS FROM APR 12: The tentative plan discussed
by the CEC and his colleague Election Commissioners with the Cabinet and Home
Secretaries is to hold the elections between April 12 and May 12 in six or
seven phases. A host of the Union Ministers are engaged in a series of inaugurations,
laying of foundations and announcement of a plethora of schemes and programmes
to beat the model code of conduct that comes into force only with the announcement
of the poll schedule. Home Minister P Chidambaram has slated a meeting on
Monday to announce certain reliefs to personnel of the central para-military
forces. Eyebrows are raised over Chawla's sudden leave as that gives the government
a leeway to make announcements without attracting the charge of indulging
in corrupt practices of alluring or influencing the voters as defined under
the model code. Nobody in the Election Commission is, however, ready to comment
on his leave, particularly after the government has dropped enough hints that
it is not accepting Gopalaswami's recommendation to sack him and he is to
be rather made the Chief Election Commissioner after Gopalaswami retires on
April 20
