Prospects of early Assembly elections in Karnataka has suddenly come under a cloud with a strong opinion building in the Congress that the process should be held only after implementation of the delimitation exercise.
At the nub of the Congress desire to push polls in Karnataka towards the year-end is the the fear that the outcome would go to the advantage of the BJP if early polls are held. There is also a view that the party will stand a better chance under the delimited regime, as the number of ST and SC seats will go up in such a situation.
The Karnataka Congress? aversion to early polls, however, has put the Manmohan Singh government in a fix, which is now having to grapple with the vexing decision of when to notify the delimitation process in the country. It is still to get the ball rolling on getting the President?s seal on the matter, even though the union cabinet a few weeks ago decided to move ahead with the delimitation process.
The problem before the UPA government, however, is that it will have to seek an extension of President?s rule in Karnataka in parliament during the budget session. This is easier said than done in the face of staunch opposition from the BJP, who have already made it clear that they will not agree to any postponement of polls in the state.
As of now, the election process have to be conducted in Karnataka before May 27. In the event that polls are held in May, they will have to be done as per existing constituencies since the Election commission is on record stating that it will need around four months time before holding polls under the delimited regime. However, for November polls, the Centre will have to first notify the delimitation process and then seek an extension of President?s rule in the state.
A meeting of senior Congress leaders here on Friday evening which included top leaders from Karnataka took stock of the situation. However, the discussions saw a clear inclination for holding polls in November along with other state assembly polls of Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mizoram.
Some of the leaders present, it was understood, pointed out that the ST seats in the state would increase from 3 to 15 while the number of SC seats would go up from 32 to 37.