JD-U leader to EC: Why no date yet for Gujarat Assembly poll?

New Delhi: Fresh divisions emerged in the Janata Dal(United) with party’s senior leader Pavan K. Varma castigating the Election Commission for not announcing the dates for the Assembly polls to Gujarat along with that of Himachal Pradesh.

“The EC (Election Com-mission of India) must not only be impartial but seen to be so. Why have dates for Gujarat elections not been announced? We need credible answers,” Mr Varma tweeted.

However, in an official statement, the JD(U) later in the evening said: “The party does not approve the views expressed by Pavan Varma. We have full faith in impartial functioning of the Election Commission, the constitutional body”.

Mr Varma was not authorised to make such a statement, it said. Since Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal(United) chief Nitish Kumar decided to leave the Congress-RJD “Mahagathbandhan” and align with the NDA, differences have erupted in the party.

Senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Sharad Yadav had rebelled against Mr Kumar’s decision to go with the BJP and has since held parallel party meetings and floated a joint platform with the Opposition, including the Congress.

The Election Commission announced dates on Thursday for elections in Himachal Pradesh and said the Gujarat elections dates would be announced later.

The Opposition has said this deviates from the practice of announcing poll dates together for states where elections are due around the same time. The terms of the present Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assemblies end two weeks apart.

It has also accused the ruling BJP of pressuring the Election Commission to delay announcing dates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, alleging this was done to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “announce sops” at a mega rally planned in state capital Gandhinagar next week.

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls will take place on November 9.