State BJP petitioned the EC for the postponement of the bypolls.

BENGALURU:On Friday the state BJP petitioned the Election Commission (EC), looking for the  postponement of the Saturday’s Ramanagara assembly bypoll. “If Chandrashekar wins the election, he will be disqualified from becoming MLA since he has already resigned from the party, and will pave the way for another bypoll. Therefore, the election must be postponed to ensure free and fair polls,” CN Ramu the BJP SC Morcha national general secretary said in his petition to EC.

Sanjeev Kumar the chief electoral officer said that they received a formal complaint from the BJP, which has been forwarded to the EC. “The election will be held on Saturday in Ramanagara as scheduled, and the result will be bound by the EC’s decision,” he added.

Kumar said that the rules state that they do not permit them to postpone the bypoll. “There have been similar cases in the past in different parts of the country, but in no case has the Election Commission considered the plea of political parties to postpone the election other than the death of a candidate.”

The BJP, in its complaint to the EC, said that the bypoll should be deferred under Section 52 of the Representation of People’s Act. “The EC countermands elections in the event of the death of a candidate. Our candidate’s withdrawal from the contest two days before elections is an act equivalently to his death and so it warrants postponement. In this situation, conduct of free and fair elections is impossible as it is affected by the declaration of retirement from the contest by the BJP candidate, which creates confusion in the minds of voters and derails the election process,” Ramu said.

Few BJP leaders also opposed to Chandrashekar supporting JD(S) nominee Anitha Kumaraswamy. “He not only retracted from the contest, but also backed JD(S)- Congress nominee Anitha. This clearly suggests that there was some kind of lure and enticement to force our candidate to retire from the contest,” said a party leader.