EC rejects early poll proposal in Meghalaya

The Election Commission has shot down a proposal by the Meghalaya government for early polls in the state, official sources said on Thursday.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had met officials of the EC recently in Delhi and proposed that the elections be scheduled in December this year so as to avoid poll activities during Feb-March in view of the budget session usually held during these months.

"The Election Commission did not approve our proposal for an early election due to the fact that we have not intimated the EC in advance," Sangma told reporters.

He said they should have worked well ahead of time so as to allow the EC to complete their pre-poll exercises like summary revision of electoral rolls.

According to the chief minister, the final electoral draft roll is expected to be out only in January next year.

When asked the reasons, which compelled him to propose early polls in the state, he said, "Our elections are held at the fag-end of the financial year and as the new government forms, it cannot plan and place a full budget."

He said, "This has been happening for donkey's years. We pass vote on account first and then come up with a full budget in a subsequent quarter."

Ideally, February-March should be free from any other activities to allow the government to pass a full-budget on time and review the performance of the government, otherwise the process is bound to "affect" the developmental programmes, the chief minister said.

Assembly election in Meghalaya is due in February-March 2013. The state, having 60 seats, went to poll on March 8, 2008 in a single phase.