Assembly polls likely in early May

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. The countdown for the Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry will begin after the Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. M.S. Gill, returns here from his one-day visit to Chennai. Dr. Gill is tentatively scheduled to be in Chennai on March 26 for a last-minute consultation with officials of the State Government and other senior officials involved in the poll arrangements.

Sources close to the Election Commission insist that the poll panel's attempt would be to ensure that a new Assembly was constituted in Tamil Nadu latest by May 21. Working backward from that deadline, the Commission would be inclined to hold the elections in Tamil Nadu - as well as in other States - latest by the first week of May.

However, political parties are eagerly awaiting a firm indication of the schedule from the Election Commission; this eagerness has become more acute as realisation is dawning that the Lok Sabha is scheduled to meet again from April 16. Assuming the Lok Sabha functions normally, it would have to be in session till May 11. That would mean parliamentarians would be grounded in the capital during the peak of the campaigning back home.

Curiously enough, despite the acrimonious confrontation in the two Houses, the BJP and the Congress were reported to have opened up indirect consultation to examine whether the parliamentary calender can be reworked. The Speaker, Mr. G.M.C. Balayogi, it is learnt, would be helpful, provided the treasury benches and the Opposition reach an understanding.

The BJP is under pressure from its regional allies, especially those in Tamil Nadu, to rework the parliamentary calender. Initial indications are that the Congress, however, was not much enthusiastic about the idea.

One possible solution being contemplated is that either the recess period (April 24 to May 15) is reduced or the actual session (April 16 to May 11) is curtailed, so as to enable the MPs and national leaders to go in for electioneering.

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