WSN Service
NEW DELHIE: Elections to the Punjab Assembly were postponed by India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Mr T.N. Seshan, barely hours before the electorates were to go to the poll on President R. Venkataraman’s suggestion, it has now been revealed.
According to media reports, when on the afternoon of June 19 it became clear that Congress (I) was expected to form the government, the President telephoned the then Prime Minister, Mr Chandra Shekhar and asked him to defer the poll. The latter refused and asked the President to quicken govt formation so that it could postpone the election if he was so keen on the postponement.
Mr T.N. Seshan’s public stand on June 19 was that the commission had not reached the conclusion that the election in the state should be postponed. In fact, Mr. Seshan told the Punjab Governor on that evening the poll would definitely be held.
Mr. Seshan said “the announced schedule of Punjab poll stays until it is changed.”
The President hastened the formation of the new government as the time for the postponement was running out. In this process, he did not even consult other political parties to ensure that there was a stable government before he called the leader of the Congress (D) P.V. Narasimha Rao who lost no time in asserting his authority and called a meeting of certain political leaders and officers at his residence where hints were dropped that his government would like to defer the Punjab wanted the postponement business to be conducted by the caretaker govt itself and in this connection sought the services of Law Minister Subramanian Swamy, unaware that the latter had no power to do so in the face of a strong stand taken by Shekhar in his dealing with the President. Shekhar had even said that the poll postponement would be worse than the operation Bluestar.
Past midnight after consulting the “powers that be”, Mr. Seshan postponed the poll. Shekhar came to know of the postponement for the morning newspapers and immediately telephoned Seshan. The latter refrained from discussing the matter over the phone and promised to give reasons after meeting Mr. Shekhar, a promise Seshan never kept Seshan even refused to discuss the matter with Swamy who was instrumental in his appointment of Seshan.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 5, 1991
