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Lyngdoh promises early decision on Gujarat election

"It was quite muddy there as you must have seen in the pictures," he told reporters, apparently referring to the slushy conditions in the relief camps and riot-hit localities of the two premier cities of Gujarat.

Asked when he would decide on the timing of the polls, Lyngdoh, flanked by election commissioners T S Krishnamurthy and B B Tandon, smiled, "In a few days' time. Not too long. We don't sit over things."

The full commission had gone to Gujarat to assess the situation before deciding on the feasibility of holding assembly elections after a nine-member official team reported that conditions were not conducive for an early poll.

While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is keen on an early election, other parties have vociferously opposed a poll in the present circumstances.

Earlier, before leaving from Baroda for New Delhi, Lyngdoh said his chiding of District Collector Bhagyesh Jha on Saturday for not giving proper information on the riots was "an internal matter" between them.

"Such type of utterances take place between professionals," the CEC told the Press Trust of India. "Giving a tongue-lashing to the authorities and chiding them for not giving proper information on the situation after the riots was an internal matter."

Jha had earned the CEC's wrath after characterizing the incident in which 12 persons were burnt alive in the Best Bakery during the riots as a 'sporadic' occurrence.

The CEC also objected to the media describing Tandon and Krishnamurthy as his deputies. "All three members [of the Election Commission] have equal status," he reminded reporters, "and no one is subordinate to the CEC. In fact, both Tandon and Krishnamurthy are better than me."

Asked what the three commissioners' assessment of the return of normalcy in the state was, Lyngdoh shot back, "Do you think normalcy is there?"

PTI

Gujarat Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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