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Bihar : Four-phase Assembly elections |
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Bihar is to have four-phase Assembly elections with poll dates spread over a month. While the first phase of polling will be on October 18, the fourth and last phase will be on November 19. The Election Commission which announced the poll schedule in New Delhi on Saturday, September 4, said the long schedule is because of the availability of central paramilitary forces, the law and order situation, including the problem posed by Naxalites, the communication system and the condition of roads. The Commission also took into consideration several festivals which are falling in October and November.
The way for the Assembly elections was made clear by the Supreme Court on August 31 when it declined to pass an interim order staying fresh elections to the Bihar Assembly in the face of the Election Commission submission that it was set to put the process in motion. The apex court referred the plea to a Constitution Bench expected to sit on September 6 along with the constitutional issues arising out of the petition challenging the action of dissolving the previous House elected earlier this year. Among the key constitutional issues referred to the Constitution Bench were the scope and ambit of Article 361 of the Constitution that grants absolute immunity to the Governor for all actions taken in his official capacity. Specifically, whether the “protection” afforded by Article 361 prevented him from being “impleaded” even when there are allegations of mala fide and “fraudulent exercise of power.”
Earlier, the Centre filed in the Supreme Court on Friday, September 2, the reports sent by Bihar Governor Buta Singh to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on April 27 and May 21 recommending dissolution of the Assembly. The lettesr were annexed to the Centre’s counter-affidavit to the petition challenging the dissolution of the Assembly. Legal experts say this is the first time copies of letters of Governor have been made public.
The letter claimed that various allurements were being offered to the MLAs to win them over. In his May 21 letter, he said : “The reports received by me in the recent past through the media and also through meetings with various political functionaries, as also intelligence reports, indicate a trend to win over elected representatives. Report has also been received of one LJP MLA, who is general secretary of the party, having resigned today and 17-18 more perhaps are moving towards the JD(U), clearly indicating that various allurements have been offered, which is a very disturbing and alarming feature.”
Meanwhile, at the political level, the RJD national executive has called upon all secular minded parties in Bihar to come together on a single platform to defeat what it called the “communal forces.”
In an appeal directed to Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ramvilas Paswan, the RJD said, “We want a bigger alliance among all the secular parties fighting to prevent a sharp division in their votes, but we are shocked to see that some parties who claim to be secular are playing into the hands of the communal forces.” Scores of national leaders including RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav attended the meeting.
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