NEW DELHI (PTI): The election commission Jan.11 postponed all the three Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) and nine assembly bye elections in eight states at the request of the Center in view of the “delicate communal situation” but announced that the general elections to three assemblies of the northeastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland will take place as scheduled on Feb.15.
The last minute decision, comes a day before the notifications were to be issued by the commission for these bye election Tuesday, covers the Lok Sabha seats of Ottapalam-SC (Kerala), Jullundur (Punjab) and Palani (Tamil Nadu) and the assembly seats of Rayachoty (Andhra Pradesh), Goh (Bihar), Rapar, GadhadaSC, Kundla (Gujarat), Narwana (Haryana) and Guhagar, Kinwat and North Sholapur (Maharashtra).
The commission had already postponed bye elections in four constituencies of JhalodSt and Jambusar (Gujarat) and Chinchpokli and Parel in Maharashtra at the request of the union home ministry in view of the law and order situation.
The commission’s decision was taken in the wake of a request from the cabinet secretary, S.Rajgopal, Monday morning seeking postponement of the bye elections as the situation in certain states where bye elections were slated “has deteriorated.”
Recently the commission had rejected the request of Tamil Nadu and Haryana governments for Postponement of bye elections on the ground of convenience to hold them with polls in some other vacancies and the Maharashtra and Gujarat governments in view of the law and order situation.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 15, 1993
