CM rejects move for early Assembly polls with Gujarat

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Chief Miniser Basavaraj Bommai has reportedly rejected the proposal mooted by some senior ministers to have early elections to the state Assembly along with Gujarat in view of the BJP victories in four states and cited the bad experience S.M.Krishna had when he was CM in 2004.

After the stupendous success in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa, there was talk among senior ministers about dissolving the House and going for early Assembly polls along with Gujarat on the ground that the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would help the party come back to power. They were of the opinion that the Modi wave would beat the antiincumbency factor.

But Bommai swept the idea under the carpet knowing quite well how Krishna had lost the Assembly election after the dissolution of the Assembly in 2004 with the Congress party forced to strike a pact with the JD(S) to come to power. The incumbent CM is not keen on any such experiment as he knows he has a lot to do in the next 12 months and would like to enjoy power till May next year when the polls are due. He is also not to sure of the mood of the electorate and whether they will back the BJP to the hilt like they did in the four states.

As for the Congress Party, after winning a couple of seats in the by-polls, they had challenged the ruling BJP to dissolve the House and seek a fresh mandate from the people of Karnataka. But after the severe drubbing in the Assembly polls in five states, the grand old party of India does not seem too keen on Assembly polls at this juncture.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Union ministers from Karnataka have advised the state BJP not to engage in any (mis) adventure as voters may reject the party lock, stock and the barrel. Taking this advice seriously, the CM and others have dropped the idea of going for early elections along with Gujarat by dissolving the Assembly.