THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ahead of the all-party meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss the impending byelections to two assembly segments, there has been a general consensus on doing away with the bypoll altogether since the newly-elected MLAs would have a tenure of just around four months. However, the demand by the main Opposition UDF for postponement of the local body polls as a precondition for any agreement on bypoll cancellation, has put the government in a fix.
A source said the government is considering giving in to the UDF’s demand to put off the civic polls at least by a few weeks. This is part of ensuring the UDF’s support for a joint plea to the Election Commission of India(ECI) to do away with the Kuttanad and Chavara bypolls. The BJP-NDA has already expressed its disagreement on conducting the bypoll at this delayed juncture.
According to a top source, the government will urge the State Election Commission (SEC) to postpone the local body polls in such a way that the newly-elected councils in rural and urban civic bodies can assume office around January next year instead of mid-November this year. Meanwhile, the BJP has voiced strong reservations on postponing the civic body elections. K Surendran, BJP state president, said deferring the local body polls will adversely affect development works in the state. He said the LDF and the UDF are scared of a rout in the civic elections.
Govt was against bypolls
It has also emerged that the state government had demanded doing away with the bypoll even before convening an all-party meet on the matter. After Teeka Ram Meena, Chief Electoral Officer, wrote to the ECI citing practical difficulties in conducting the byelection, the state had also followed suit.
Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta had informed the poll panel on August 21 about rising Covid cases, chances of flooding in Kuttanad during the north-east monsoon and difficulty in redeploying government machinery already assigned for Covid-prevention work.
However, the Election Commission went ahead and announced its decision on August 4 to conduct bypolls to all assembly seats lying vacant across the country, necessitating the need for political parties to arrive at a consensus against the move.
Govt likely to consider UDF’s demand
A source said the government is considering giving in to the UDF’s demand to put off the civic polls at least by a few weeks. This is part of ensuring the UDF’s support for a joint plea to the ECI to do away with the Kuttanad and Chavara bypolls.