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Haryana Assembly to be dissolved next week
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 13 
The Haryana legislative assembly will be dissolved in the third week of this month unless there is a last-minute change in plans by the Congress party leadership. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had earlier ruled out such a move, has apparently realised if he wants the assembly elections to be held in October, a few months ahead of the schedule and concurrently with the Maharashtra polls, the House has to be dissolved.

The Election Commission can order polls to be held for a state assembly or the Lok Sabha six months before the expiry of its term. In the case of Haryana the panel gets this authority after September 20 as the present assembly was constituted on March 21, 2005.

Hooda firmly believes October is the right time to go in for polls because the opposition is seemingly in a state of disarray after its humiliating defeat in last May’s general elections. Moreover, he is sure there is no ‘anti-incumbency’ wave against his government. Of course, the drought and the resultant power shortage in the state have inflicted hardships on the common man. However, the ruling party is of the view that voters would not hold a natural calamity against it.

A meeting of the general house of the Haryana Congress, which was scheduled to be held here Friday to discuss the “political situation in the state”, has now been deferred to August 18.

Hooda has also convened a meeting of the cabinet later that day, which may recommend to the governor dissolution of the assembly if AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana Prithvi Raj Chavan, who will attend the Congress meet, gives the thumbs up to the CM.

Sources said the Election Commission has still not decided if the elections to the Maharashtra assembly should be held before the Diwali festival, which falls on October 17 this year, or after it.