The Andhra Pradesh state Assembly was dissolved today, nine months ahead of schedule, paving way for early elections. However, Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh ruled out holding Assembly polls in the state before February 2004, a period Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wants. ‘‘Not before February. May be in March or beyond March,’’ he told mediapersons adding that the EC’s objective was to have a proper election than a ‘‘quick and bad one’’. The crux of the resolution adopted by the Cabinet and the briefing provided by Naidu later was that ‘‘extremism posed a grave threat to the development of the state’’ and, therefore, there was need for a clear mandate from the people rejecting extremism categorically. In the state capital, it was a day of fast developments. All formalities were completed in less than three hours for prematurely dissolving the Assembly. The Cabinet met at 9.45 am and adopted a resolution recommending dissolution of the House. Armed with the resolution, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu met Governor Surjit Singh Barnala at Raj Bhavan around 12.15 pm. Soon after, the Governor accepted the resolution and dissolved the House while asking Naidu and his council of ministers to continue in caretaker capacity. The chief minister said that ‘‘development vs extremism’’ would be the poll plank of the ruling party which would highlight how Opposition parties were ‘‘indirectly supporting’’ Naxalites by not condemning their acts. In fact, some parties (read Telangana Rashtra Samithi) even went to the extent of saying that there was nothing wrong in seeking support from Naxalites, he pointed out. ‘‘On the one hand, Naxalites are killing elected representatives, particularly those belonging to the TDP, on a regular basis. They have even imposed a ban on our party. On the other, the Opposition parties are playing opportunistic politics by not talking firmly against the extremists,” Naidu said. CEC Lyngdoh made it quite clear that the Commission was not prepared for the polls. With the SC ruling in the Gujarat election case in place, the EC has time. It has to hold the elections within six months of dissolution of the Assembly and that is exactly what Lyngdoh pointed out. The Commission undertakes the revision of electoral rolls in December which is crucial before any elections. The Governor issues a notification for the election three weeks after the date is announced by the EC. That would push the possibility of an election to mid-February.
