BENGALURU: While the bypolls to Maski, Basavkalyan and Belgavi will be held on Saturday, there is a concern whether zilla and taluk panchayat elections, which are due in May, will be conducted amid soaring Covid numbers. All the three major political parties — BJP, Congres and Janata Dal (Secular) — were worried about holding local body polls.
The term of ZP-TPs ends by May last week. State Election Commissioner Dr B Basavaraaju told The New Indian Express that they are working towards May deadline, and if there is an issue with Covid numbers, they may postpone it to June and not beyond that.
Asked about soaring Covid-positive cases, he said, “We have a constitutional mandate to hold elections on time. Last time, when Covid was mentioned ahead of gram panchayat elections, some people filed a Public Interest Litigation before the court urging SEC to hold elections, which we did. There is no question of any delay whatsoever on zilla and taluk panchayat elections.”
He said, “We are working towards getting the electoral rolls and reservation list ready.’’ Congress, which was in power between 2013 and 2018, did well in the last ZP-TP polls. This time, BJP will be seeking to fare well in these elections. BJP General Secretary and MLC Ravi Kumar said, “We are getting ready for the polls. But there is general apprehension if they will be able to hold polls in May because of the rising number of Covid cases.”
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Eshwar Khandre said, “We are prepared. Considering the challenging public health situation, I feel all parties and everyone concerned should be consulted before SEC takes the final decision on the dates. Once the situation is reasonably safe, we can hold the polls.’’
Bandeppa Kashempur, JDS deputy leader in the Assembly, said, “How can we hold ZP-TP elections normally across the state when the Covid situation is worsening? SEC may need to postpone the elections till the public health situation improves.’’