New Delhi, July 22
Two days after the dissolution of the Gujarat Assembly, the Congress today mounted pressure on the Election Commission (EC) against conduct of early poll in the state saying that the atmosphere was “not conducive” to hold Assembly elections there.

A Congress delegation, led by senior Congress leaders Dr Manmohan Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad, also tried to impress upon the three-member Election Commission panel led by Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh the need to hold Assembly poll in Gujarat and militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir under the President’s rule.

The 10-member delegation, comprising among others Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ms Ambika Soni, Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr H.R. Bhardwaj and Mr Oscar Fernandes, spent more than an hour at the Election Commission and focused on the need to conduct free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir and the situation arising out of the Gujarat Government’s sudden decision to dissolve the state Assembly and recommend early elections.

Accusing the Narendra Modi government of thrusting a snap poll to capitalise on the communal situation in the Gujarat in the wake of recent communal violence, the Congress delegation told Mr Lyngdoh and his colleagues Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy and Mr B.B. Tandon, that thousands of people, who were still in relief camps, would be deprived of their franchise if early elections were held.

The need of the hour was to inspire the confidence of the people and to concentrate on relief and rehabilitation work. Instead the BJP government had dissolved the House to cash in on the communal polarisation, the delegation said adding “according to official figures, more than 13,000 persons are still in relief camps in Ahmedabad and many thousands in camps which are theoretically closed down. Thousands of people, who fled the state in the wake of the riots, have not returned yet.”

Senior Congress leader and noted lawyer Kapil Sibal argued that under the Article 324 of the Constitution, the Election Commission was supreme in deciding the poll schedule and that the Article 324 was not subject to other Constitutional provisions such as the Article 174 which stipulated that there should not be more than a six-month gap between two Assembly sessions.

“The Article 174 is not applicable in this case, and certainly not on a Constitutional authority such as the Election Commission,” Mr Sibal said.

Moreover, the Article 174 would be applicable only when an Assembly was still in existence. It could not apply to a “dead’’ House, Mr Sibal argued.

Mr Sibal demanded elections in Gujarat under the President’s rule. “No Election Commission can have confidence in a government of which Mr Narendra Modi is a part,” he added.

Dr Manmohan Singh said the commission heard the Congress viewpoint patiently and said it would consider it.

Stating that the Congress would not fight shy of contesting elections whenever these were held, the Congress leaders said they had left it to the Election Commission to decide on the poll schedule. “We believe elections are the best way to settle political issues. We will not fight shy of contesting the poll,” Dr Manmohan Singh told mediapersons.

However, it was the obligation of the Election Commission to hold elections at a time when it was conducive to hold free and fair polling, he added.

On Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress demanded the imposition of the Governor’s rule to hold free and fair elections saying the political parties had “lost faith” in the National Conference government.

The party also demanded adequate security to candidates of major political parties and the drafting of accurate electoral rolls.

“Election is the root cause of all problems in Jammu and Kashmir. In the last Parliamentary elections 90 per cent votes were rigged due to voters’ list. To have free and fair poll it is a must that the Governor’s rule is imposed in the state and the electoral rolls are properly revised,” Congress leader and JKPCC chief Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the meeting with the Election Commission.