Lok Satta demands civic polls on time

The Lok Satta Party today demanded that the Government drop its move to defer the elections due to municipalities and municipal corporations, and cooperative institutions. trotting out lame excuses.

In a media statement, party General Secretaries Katari Srinivasa Rao and V. Laxman Balaji said that postponement of elections ran counter to democratic and constitutional principles.

The Government would be violating the letter and spirit of the 74th amendment to the Constitution if it deferred municipal elections. Apparently, it would not like the ruling party to face the electorate especially after the rout it suffered in the by-elections to the Assembly from the Telangana region and turmoil within the party. It, therefore, was trying to find excuses like the delay in enumeration of backward class voters and the move to raise reservations for women to 50 percent for deferring the elections.

The Lok Satta leaders said that keeping civic bodies under officials’ rule instead of elected persons was undemocratic. They said they would mobilize public opinion in favor of elections on schedule.

The Lok Satta Party would like the elections to be held even on non-party basis but on schedule. The Party demanded that Chairpersons of Muncipalities and Corporations be elected directly.