WSN Service
CHANDIGARH: The Chief Election Commissioner of India T.N. Sheshan in a surprise move postponed the Punjab election till September 25.
The poll postponement order was issued barely a day before the electorate in Punjab were expected to cast votes. The administration in Punjab received the postponement news soon after midnight and media reports suggest that Prime Minister PV.Narasimha Rao and the then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar were surprised at the decision.
Sheshan said the decision as well as its timing had been decided upon by the commission on the basis of its own Judgement and had not been dictated by the Chandra Shekhar government or by the President of India. He also denied that Congress (I) had a hand in the postponement.
According to observers Sheshan a Congress (I) protege who served Congress (I) Prime Ministers for years by taking the decision and owning it had saved the Congress (I) central government of possible embarrassment of postponing the poll on its own Prime Minister Rao took oath of office less than 12 hours of Seshan’s postponement order.
In a quick reaction Punjab’s Army Governor Om Prakash Malhotra rushed to Delhi met President R. Venkataraman and submitted his resignation as governor to protest against the poll postponement.
On the other hand the five-member Panthic Committee consisting of Dr Sohan Singh and others welcomed the postponement decision and called off the state-wide strike call for June 22. The committee’s strike call for June 21 even after the poll postponement decision of the government had become known all over was a success. The two-day strike action was aimed at throwing the electoral process hay-wire.
All parliamentary Akali parties which were in the electoral run condemned the elections postponement. Akali leader Prakash Singh Badal described the decision as anti-Punjab. The decision he said had been dictated by Congress (I) President Rao. He said the Congress (I) was having second thoughts on the Punjab poll boycott and had itself wanted to contest the poll. At Bathinda the C-P.L organized a demonstration against the poll postponement. Most political parties at Hoshiarpur organized a rally to register their protest against the postponement. The B J.P. Which was having a field day in the absence of Congress (I) regretted the election commission’s decision
All India Sikh Students Federation President Manjit Singh whose electoral prospects were ratios welcomed the decision when he said that the Sikh struggle would gather momentum. However AISSF General Secretary Harminder Singh Gill deplored the decision.
Many candidates heaved a sigh of relief at the postponement and inserted advertisements in newspapers thanking voters for the support extended to them.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 28, 1991
