Dates for general polls likely by this weekend

EC meets top bureaucrats to assess the security situation.

The dates for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections are likely to be announced by this weekend, according to sources in the Election Commission (EC). The elections are likely to be held in five phases starting from the middle of April, they say.

The countdown for the announcement began today with the EC discussing security issues with top bureaucrats. This is generally seen as a signal that the EC’s preparations are at an advanced stage.

The EC generally unveils the schedule within a few days of this key round of consultations. This, sources say, makes it likely that the EC will announce the schedule by the coming weekend.

Naxalite-hit areas, say sources, are likely to see elections in early phases as the EC needs additional security forces there. The EC had also indicated that elections in Kerala might be conducted in the first phase due to the fear of the arrival of monsoons around late April, said sources.

The model code of conduct will come into effect as soon as the schedule is announced.

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami and the two election commissioners, Navin S Chawla and SY Quraishi, held separate talks with Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh. While Gupta is reported to have given the EC details of the availability of paramilitary forces for the elections, Singh briefed the commission about the security situation in border areas. The meetings lasted half-an-hour each, said sources.

The meetings were also aimed at reconciling the tentative schedule earlier prepared by the EC with the availability of security forces. The EC is now expected to hold a final meeting to finalise the schedule.

According to this timeline, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the state governments that have launched their pre-poll publicity blitzkriegs have only a few days left to wind up these “surrogate’’ campaigns. The governments will also have to quickly announce sops for the voters as the model code of conduct will come into effect as soon as the dates are announced.

The Lok Sabha elections in 2004 were a four-phased exercise spread over three weeks from April 20 to May 10.