Sending a clear message that elections in 65 Assembly constituencies in the second phase doesn’t suit the conditions in the hill state, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Saturday that he would move the Election Commission to seek “readjustment” of the poll dates. What has angered the CM is the fact that his Government was not taken into confidence over the possible polls dates, though it had been asking for simultaneous polls to the tribal constituencies of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmaur. As per the EC’s schedule, the three constituencies will vote on November 14 and the other 65 constituencies spread over 10 districts on December 19. Reaching Delhi after a weeklong trip to the US, the CM spent the entire day attending a series of meeting with Cabinet ministers, party leaders and legal experts. He also had an hour-long chat with CWC member R K Dhawan, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Himachal Pradesh. In the evening, the CM met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and briefed her about his Government’s stand on the polls. “Polling is not possible during December in several parts of the state. During these days, most of the areas are either under snow or facing an intense cold wave. It will not be possible to organise polls during these days,” he informed the Sonia Gandhi. Singh said, “I have already conveyed my reservations. I strongly believe that I was ambushed by the EC. There was absolutely no consultation with the Government on possible poll dates, as has been the past practice. I really don’t know the reason for curtailing the term of the House which ends in March 2008.”The Chief Minister is understood to have also contested the EC’s claim that political parties in the state were consulted. He asserted that the consultations with political parties, if any were held at all, were limited to the question of holding polls in three tribal constituencies together with the rest of the constituencies. “We are not afraid of elections. The EC has powers to announce elections even six months before the expiry of the Assembly term. But there should be valid reasons and ground to advance the polls,” the CM said.
