K'taka assembly polls to be postponed

With the formalisation of delimitation exercise 80 constituencies will be realigned in Karnataka.

With President Pratibha Patil signing the formal notification on delimitation of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies on Tuesday night, assembly elections in Karnataka will be put on the back burner for another six months as the Election Commission (EC) will now require time to prepare fresh electoral rolls.

The state, which came under President's rule in November 2007 following the collapse of the JD(S)-BJP government over differences on sharing of power, was supposed to go to polls by May 28, 2008.

But the Union Cabinet, which met last week, cleared the proposal to notify delimitation of constituencies as recommended by the Kuldip Singh Commission.

Now with the President giving her assent, the EC will have to prepare electoral rolls as per the redrawn constituencies.

"It will take four-six months to prepare new electoral rolls after an order on delimitation of constituencies is issued," Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalswami had said during a review of poll preparations in Bangalore last month.

Going by his statement, elections in the state are likely to be held in October-November as all the 224 assembly constituencies in the state have to be freshly demarcated.

"The total number of voters will not change, but their constituencies will as boundaries will have to be redrawn. For example, while the number of voters will remain unchanged in Bangalore, the constituencies will increase from 16 to 28. It will be a herculean task," Election Commission officials in Bangalore told Business Standard while maintaining that they are yet to receive any formal communication from New Delhi.

This apart, there is a talk in political circles about elections being held in December-January to coincide with the Lok Sabha polls.

For the political parties, delayed elections has brought both cheers and tears. While the Congress is elated as it gets additional time to iron out internal differences and turn the poll tide in its favour, the BJP is angry as it fears that the current sympathy wave favouring it will subside by then.

The JD(S) led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has favoured delimitation exercise, but has opposed postponement of elections.