M A I N   N E W S

Majitha byelection on Feb 19
Decision surprises parties; CEO changed
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The decision of the Election Commission to hold the byelection to the Majitha Assembly seat in Punjab along with 11 other byelections in eight other states on February 19 came as a surprise to all political parties in the state. The seat had fallen vacant only on Saturday following the death of Mr Parkash Singh Majitha, Minister without portfolio, after a prolonged illness.

Holding of the byelection on February 19 also sets at rest speculation that the Assembly elections in the state, due in February next year, may be advanced.

Filing of nominations will start tomorrow and continue until January 31 as January 26, 28 and 29 are holidays on account of Republic Day, Sunday and the birth anniversary of Baba Ram Singh of the Namdhari sect, respectively. Only today, the Punjab Government had declared a public holiday on January 29.

According to the schedule announced today, nominations can be filed between January 24 and 31 and the scrutiny of the nomination papers will take place on February 1. The last date for the withdrawal of nominations will be February 3. The polling will be held on February 19 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. against the previous polling hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The change in the time, according to sources, has been necessitated because of extremely cold and foggy weather.

The model code of conduct comes into force immediately in Amritsar district in which the Majitha Assembly constituency is located.

The Subdivisional Magistrate of Majitha will be the Returning Officer. The election process has to be completed by February 26.

What is surprising is not only the decision to hold the byelection even before the bhog and antim ardas of Mr Majitha but also the decision of the Election Commission to replace the Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab, Dr Brajendra Singh, by Mr Vijay Kain. Mr Kain has been asked to take up his new assignment immediately.

Dr Brajendra Singh belongs to the 1967 batch of the IAS while Mr Kain is a 1974 batch officer. The fresh posting of Dr Brajendra Singh may be ordered in a day or two.

Even the Chief Minister’s Secretariat was not aware of the announcement of the Majitha byelection as Mr Parkash Singh Badal was in a hurry to go to New Delhi where he along with his Haryana counterpart, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, was to meet the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, tomorrow at 10.30 a.m. to impress upon him the necessity of increasing the minimum support price of wheat.

The Union Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet tomorrow, is expected to decide the minimum support price of wheat. The Agriculture Cost and Price Commission has not recommended any increase in the MSP this time.

The election announcement took Mr Badal by surprise.

Though Majitha has been a traditional Shiromani Akali Dal stronghold, Mr Badal, who is also the President of the party, has not yet been to the Majha belt under his “sangat darshan” programme. Now with the model code of conduct coming into force immediately, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance will enter the fray on a par with other political parties.

For the past few years, Mr Parkash Singh Majitha, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, was probably not able to nurse his constituency as he did during the initial years of his present term when he held the portfolio of Revenue.

In fact, some of the Congressmen of the Majha belt had been reportedly making enquiries, anticipating that the byelection to the Majitha Assembly seat may be held along with other byelections on February 19.

The whole exercise, according to sources, began today. The Election Commission was weighing two options: whether to hold this byelection now or with the state Assembly elections in nine states in May. Since the state is due for its general election by the end of this year or early next year, it was decided to hold the byelection immediately, thus setting at rest speculation on early Assembly elections in the state.

In the last Assembly elections held in 1997, Mr Parkash Singh Majitha had polled 34,026 votes to defeat his nearest rival, Mr Sawinder Singh, an Independent, by nearly 3,000 votes. Mr Sawinder Singh had polled 31,195 votes while Mr Ranjit Singh of the Congress came a poor third with 1,906 votes Mr Murti Masih of the Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar) secured 1,481 votes. The number of voters in 1997 was 1,16,382.