Karnataka polls to be deferred?

Bengaluru: Could Karnataka become the first state where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to hold state and parliamentary elections simultaneously will come to fruition, setting into motion a chain of events that could change India’s electoral history forever?   High level sources have told this newspaper that Assembly elections to the state could be deferred for six months and held along with the Assembly elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, which are scheduled for later this year. Requesting anonymity, the source told this newspaper on Thursday that the state government was in receipt of a letter from the Centre which asks the State government to consider a  proposal to defer Assembly elections for six months and hold them alongside other states in November, under the Prime Minister’s call for ‘one nation; one election’ strategy that the central government claims will help save massive government resources and manpower.

The Centre has reportedly proposed to the Congress-led government that chief minister Siddaramaiah could even continue as the caretaker government till such time.

High level officials in the State government have refused to confirm receiving such a letter. They however said that “it (the news on deferring the elections) has been around for the last two weeks. Despite the fact that elections are due in May, there is no confirmation about the election date from the Election Commission. That alone is a pointer in that direction,” the official source said.

However, the legal fraternity said the issue of postponement of Assembly elections in Karnataka was highly unlikely. While former additional solicitor general, K.N. Bhat felt it was possible, senior counsel of Supreme Court, Mohan Katarki said it was almost impossible to postpone the elections under the present circumstances.