EC sends poll dates to govt; Law Ministry upset at delay

The Election Commission today sent the mandatory recommendation for notifying the Lok Sabha poll dates to the Law Ministry but the latter is upset over the "delay" that took place in this process.
The recommendation was sent by the EC three days after it announced the schedule for the nine-phase polls beginning on April 7.
Under Section 14 of the Representation of the People Act, the EC sends its recommendation to the government which requests the President to clear the notification of poll dates.
Based on the recommendation, the ministry is working overtime to prepare a proposal for the Union Cabinet which will recommend to the President to approve issuance of notifications for the different phases.

However, the Law Ministry says the EC recommendation came late.
"The dates were announced on March 5. The first notification will be issued on March 13. But the EC sent us the recommendation only today which gives us little time to prepare proposal for the Cabinet which may meet as early as Monday so that President can approve the the issuance of notifications," said a senior government official.
The official said EC's recommendation came after several reminders by the government, the official said.
The EC's recommendation contains the details of all the Parliamentary constituencies, their respective dates of polling and dates when notification has to be filed.