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Dinesh Chandra
New Delhi, July 3: Chief Election Commissioner MS Gill said here on Saturday that the commission would soon announce the schedule for the coming Lok Sabha elections so that the House is constituted by October 20 as per the constitutional requirement.
Briefing newspersons after a two-hour meeting with the representatives of six recognised national parties, Gill said the schedule for the polls would be announced "in good time and on an appropriate day which is not too far away."
Gill said that as most parties favoured that elections in Jammu and Kashmir should also be held along with the rest of the country, the schedule would include polling dates for the state. All the parties unanimously agreed in their meeting with the commission that polls for the Lok Sabha should be held as scheduled.
The commission had convened the meeting to elicit the views of the political parties on the timing of the elections in the light of the developments in Kargil.
Earlier, the commission had held consultations withPrime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other members of his government on Friday. The political parties, however, agreed that in case the situation in Kargil deteriorated, another meeting could be held with the commission.
Gill said though there was unanimity among the political parties on the timing of the elections, Bhartiya Janata Party's proposals for introducing state funding and proxy voting for armed forces and para-military personnel did not find favour with them.
Asked if elections to state assemblies whose tenures were ending would be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls, the CEC said the commission was considering the issue.
Gill hinted that this time also the elections would be held in phases to facilitate proper deployment of security forces. He said the commission was also considering deployment of college level National Cadet Core cadets and able-bodied retired security force personnel to maintain law and order during polls.
The meeting was also attended by the other members ofthe commission GVG Krishnamurthy and JM Lyngdoh.
The political parties were represented by Pranab Mukherjee and Kapil Sibal (Congress), VK Malhotra and Ram Kripal Singh (BJP), J Chittaranjan and D Raja (CPI), S Ramachandran Pillai and Hari Singh Kang (CPM), Madhu Dandavate and Bapu Kaldate (Janata Dal) and Kanshi Ram (Bahujan Samaj Party).
Talking to newspersons after the meeting BJP leader VK Malhotra said party leaders were unanimous that elections should be held on time. "If the situation turns bad, all parties can sit together and take a decision in national interest," he said.
Janata Dal leader Madhu Dandavate said the Kargil situation did not warrant any postponement of polls. "No party thinks that the Kargil situation will escalate. It will remain a limited conflict," he said. He was of the view that holding of elections would also go a long way in boosting the morale of soldiers.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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