EC reschedules Karnataka bypolls

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday rescheduled the Karnataka assembly bypolls which will now be held on December 5 instead of October 21. Results will be out on December 9.

The EC deferred the polls in view of the Supreme Court hearing the matter of disqualified MLAs. In their petition, 17 lawmakers disqualified by then speaker of Karnataka assembly KR Ramesh challenged the latter’s decision to prohibit them from contesting elections till the expiry of the assembly’s term.

They also challenged his decision to disqualify them instead of accepting their resignation.

Their resignation from the Congress and the JD(S) had led to the fall of the alliance government in Karnataka in July.

The next date of hearing is October 22.

Meanwhile, the EC decision hasn’t gone down well with either the Congress or the JD(S).

Congress state president Dinesh Gundu Rao has criticised the EC for its voluntary submission before the Supreme Court that it was willing to defer the polls.

“The belief in the EC is eroding,” he said.

“There was no need for the EC to involve itself. It entered the proceedings saying it had announced the polls, that the elections would not be postponed,” Gundu Rao said.

“What was its locus standi? We will write to them and take up the matter legally,” he added. “We have no problem if the elections are postponed, we have no issues with the SC decision. But when the EC behaves in such a manner does it not imply that the constitutional body is compromised?”

Former prime minister and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda said, “The EC has volunteered to defer the election ... This was the first time I saw such a situation. I do not know whether all these institutions are going to function in a free and fair manner or not.”