Polls in 5 states from Nov 14, J&K stalled

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Phase five today, long wait begins for May 16

New Delhi, Oct 14: Sharp divisions in the Election Commission stalled the decision on holding elections in Jammu & Kashmir as the poll body on Tuesday announced a mid-November schedule for the assembly polls in five states — Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.

Chhattisgarh will have two-phased polls on November 14 and 20, while Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will have one-day polls on November 25 and December 4, respectively, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami announced at a crowded press conference on Tuesday. Delhi and Mizoram will go to polls on November 29, he added.

The election days, though, are now expected to have a bearing on the Parliament schedule, with a senior UPA minister contending that the winter session may be adjourned a couple of weeks in advance.

Parliament is to convene on October 17 and adjourn on November 21. ‘‘There is not much business to conduct and most leaders will want to go for campaigning,’’ the CEC said. Much importance is being attached to the assembly polls, giving it the status of a ‘‘mini-general election’’ as the Lok Sabha polls will have to follow in the next few months.

A decision on holding polls in J&K, however, could not be firmed up in the wake of reports that Gopalaswami did not agree with the opinion of his other two colleagues, Navin Chawla and SY Quraishi to have them together with the polls in the five states. Elections in the sensitive state have to be held by December, failing which the current spell of Governor’s rule, which ends on January 10, will have to be extended.

The CEC is understood to have argued that holding polls in the present atmosphere, when the state is just out of a spell of violence triggered by the Amarnath land row, may not be conducive for the democratic process. He is said to have taken the view that while elections can be held in the state, there should also be adequate participation by the people.

‘‘At the moment, no decision has been taken. We are assessing the situation,’’ Gopalaswami, flanked by the other two commissioners, told reporters.

The Right and the Left fronts have demanded immediate polls in J&K, while the PDP and the NC contend that the situation must improve. The Congress has left it to the EC, but it had earlier requested them not to make any announcement till October 12 as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was travelling to the state to inaugurate the railway line in the valley.