Memorandum to the Election Commission

We are grateful to the Election Commission for giving us time, at such a short notice.

Despite being the largest single party in the recently dissolved Karnataka Assembly the BJP has been deprived of the opportunity to serve the people of Karnataka. The party strongly advocates the termination of the President’s Rule and the installation of a democratically elected government at an early date. We therefore urge upon the Commission to announce the Poll schedule at an early date and the completion of the Polls before end May.

At the same time, the Party is keen to have the Elections conducted on the basis of the recommendations of Delimitation Commission, already gazetted, for Karnataka. BJP has always been urging the early implementation of the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission.

There is an apprehension that the Commission may not be able to conduct the polls before end May, once the Presidential notification of the date is issued for making the Delimitation orders operational. We feel that it is not necessary, statutorily or otherwise, for the Commission to wait for the notification for initiating the preparatory work for giving effect to the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission on ground. In Karnataka by and large all assembly constituencies are sited within the same district. It is therefore possible to empower the Deputy Commissioners to restructure the polling booths and allocate the electoral rolls for the ACs falling within his jurisdiction. All the ground work can thus be compressed within a short time frame and the framework kept ready for completing the polls before end May 2008.

The BJP is totally opposed to the extension of President’s rule in Karnataka, based on specious procedural grounds of the Commission not being in a position to complete the procedural work. We earnestly hope the Commission will rise to the occasion and find administrative solutions for resolving this problem. The Party assures the Commission for all help and assistance that may be required in making this possible.

1. Shri Yashwant Sinha

2. Shri Arun Jaitley

3 Shri Anant Kumar

4. Shri Sadanand Gowda

5 Shri Jagdish Shettar

6. Shri Suresh Kumar

7. Shri Arvind Limbavali

8. Shri R. Ramakrishna