Former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) could just play party pooper to the BJP’s grand plan of wrapping up Lok Sabha elections by early April. The JD(S) plans to take the Election Commission to court, if it holds the polls before May. ‘‘Elections in March-April will be disastrous for students who have their board exams and farmers who have to harvest. Just because the BJP has won in three states does not mean that we drag the country through untimely general elections,’’ said JD(S) spokesperson Kunwar Danish Ali. As proof of its intent in carrying out the threat, the JD leader said the party will meet the Election Commission next week. ‘‘We will first go to the EC, but are keeping open the option of going to court. We have taken legal opinion on that, we will 100 per cent go to court if the EC fails to take note of the ground situation,’’ Ali added. He also made it clear that JD(S) was not alone in making the demand. The Left parties, he said, ‘‘are fully supporting our move. We have discussed this issue with senior leaders of the CPI and CPI(M) today,’’ he admitted. The JD(S) argument is that CBSE exams will continue till April 4 and the UP Board exams till April 15. ‘‘How do you expect students to concentrate on their studies with the election loudspeakers blaring?’’ he asked. On why the JD(S) which has no presence in UP bothered about exams there, Ali said: ‘‘It is about being a responsible political party. How can you put students and farmers in trouble because the BJP and the TDP want to cash in?’’ Ali said JD(S) has looked into the matter in detail and since the Andhra Assembly was dissolved in November 14, ‘‘there is time till May 14 (polls have to be conducted within six months) to hold simultaneous elections’’.
