If the people of Karnataka haven’t had an elected government, then the two individuals squarely responsible for that are Kumaraswamy and Yedyurappa. Now having firmly settled that matter, I must also state unequivocally that it is unconscionable to have Governor’s rule beyond a point. However efficient a Governor and his bureaucrats may be, as a matter of principle, I would rather be governed by an elected government.
So far ‘delimitation of electoral constituencies’ has been an easy explanation to postpone elections to the Karnataka Assembly. The Election Commission wants to wait until electoral rolls are revised for the newly demarcated constituencies. Perhaps, this suits the Congress government at the Center, which may want to wait until the tide turns in its favor. Perhaps, local Congress politicians may want to enjoy the benefits of ruling the state indirectly through bureaucrats for a while.
But yesterday’s editorial in The Hindu makes a compelling argument in favor of conducting elections before the end of May. The editorial suggests that electoral rolls could be prepared within a month, giving ample time for the Commission to hold elections and constitute a new Assembly before May 28th.
If the Election Commission immediately announces its resolve to hold Karnataka Assembly elections by the due date, it should have a clear 40+ days to do its democratic duty. By invoking Rule 24, it will put an end to unsavoury efforts to force a postponement of the contest through the instrumentality of delimitation. In addition to being anti-democratic, any avoidable delay beyond May could lead to uncharted constitutional areas.
We need our government back.
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