CALCUTTA, 31 May 2005 — The schedule for re-election in Bihar is anybody’s guess. But the polls will cost at least 2,500 million rupees. And the public will foot the bill! A senior federal government official said that the Election Commission, responsible for conducting the polls, will receive the funds through the Law Ministry.
Most of the money, according to him, will be spent on transportation and deployment of police and paramilitary forces, election officials and maintenance of electronic voting machines.
“The bill would have been bigger if the elections were staggered. But as Bihar will probably be the only state to go to the polls, voting will not be in phases. A one-day poll will cut down costs drastically”, he said.
Deputy election commissioner, Anand Kumar, and legal adviser, S.K. Mendiratta, were in Patna and they met district collectors and representatives of various political parties. Their job is to probe the preparedness of the state election machinery, the prevailing ground situation, infrastructural and logistical requirements and submit a report to Chief Election Commissioner B. B. Tandon.
Experts say the Election Commission has three options before it. As fresh elections are held before the end of President’s rule, polling could be held before Sept. 6 when six-month long central rule expires.
The second option is to hold elections before Nov. 22 — within six months of this week’s dissolution of the assembly. But there is yet another possibility. If the polls are not held by Sept. 6 — which is likely because of the onset of monsoon and flood conditions in Bihar — an extension of President’s rule is on the cards.
In the event of an extension, Bihar will remain under President’s rule until March 5, 2006. The commission could then toy with the idea of holding the elections early next year by clubbing them with assembly polls in Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry. Elections in those five states are due in April.
