Karnataka polls likely to be deferred

Assembly elections in Karnataka, where the BJP-JD(S) coalition government fell apart last year, are not likely to be held soon.

The Congress has made up its mind on deferring the elections and in the pretext of delimitation, hold them in October-November.

Although the Election Commission (EC) is the sole decision-maker about the election schedule, this year the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre can play a major role in the case of Karnataka and other states, thanks to its right to decide whether the coming state elections should be held according to the newly drawn constituencies or not.

In the case of Karnataka, the Congress and its government at the Centre will notify elections on the basis of delimitation. This notification will push back the schedule for Karnataka, which is currently under the President's Rule, till at least October.

The EC has already made it clear that it is not possible to hold Assembly polls in the new constituencies at a short notice.

The Congress leadership is confident that polls in redrawn constituencies will give the party political advantage.

"There are contradicting views within the party about benefits of delimitation in Karnataka. However, a majority believes that it will help us electorally," said Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh.

In the new exercise, the Scheduled Caste (SC) seats have gone up by 12 and there is also an increase in Schedule Tribe (ST) seats by two.

The party think-tank believes that this boost to the SC and ST will benefit the Congress and not the BJP or JD(S). "It appears unlikely that the elections will be held in May," said Congress general secretary B K Hariprasad.

According to EC sources, the exercise to chalk out the new constituencies has already started.

Sensing the mood of the government, the EC officials have also started preparing themselves to hold elections as per delimitation.

The delimitation exercise has been completed and only needs to be notified. The only hitch holding up the notification is a couple of cases in the shape of Public Interest Litigations (PIL) questioning some aspects of the delimitation committee's report.