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Govt can decide on key issues like CTBT, says Krishnamurthy

Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurthy has said the Atal Bihari Vajpayee care-taker government is entitled to take all administrative decisions, including the transfer of bureaucrats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition can also decide on key national and international issues like the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty before the mid-term polls, he said.

In an interview to Star News on Sunday evening, Krishnamurthy said, ''Constitutionally, it is for the government to consider whether a particular decision is solely intended to derive political mileage. If the decision is necessary in the interests of administration, they are free to transfer, free to do whatever they fell. The government can take decisions (referring to the CTBT) which are in the interests of the country, and which can't be avoided simply because the polls are coming up.'' The CTBT has to be ratified by September-end.

Asked it was ethical for a caretaker government to transfer key officials before the elections, he said that the Commission's view was that ''this was a matter to be sorted out between President K R Narayanan and the Union government''.

''We are very clear about this, we will enter the picture only after the poll schedule is announced. What happens with a government which is in office after it has lost a trust vote in the Lok Sabha is a matter between the President, the council of ministers and the Opposition parties. It is for them to decide what is wrong and what is right.''

As for the poll schedule, he said that ''it was not possible at this stage to give a time frame. There are still a number of factors that we will have to consider, including climatic conditions that vary from region to region and our overall poll-preparedness. Most importantly, we have to see the convenience of the people to ensure maximum turnout.''

He came out strongly in favour of simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

''All these years, the principle has been that for the voter and the country simultaneous elections are always advantageous. The first thing is that the voter does not need to vote twice. The second is that it saves the country a tremendous amount of expenditure. Thirdly, for the voter, the bother of having to go to polls twice in a gap of two to three months is not good,'' he said.

Some states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have objected to simultaneous polls, but Krishnamurthy expressed confidence that their fears could be addressed. ''Whatever decision we take will only be taken after consulting the state governments. I am sure that we will be able to come to an agreement on these issues.''

UNI

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