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Make an independent assessment
on Gujarat, Left parties tell EC

A joint delegation of Left parties and Janata Dal (Secular) on Thursday asked the Election Commission to make its own independent assessment of the situation in Gujarat before deciding the timing of elections in the state.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi dissolved the state assembly on July 19, nine months ahead of its term, and requested the Election Commission to hold early elections in the state.

Gujarat experienced some of the worst communal rioting seen in independent India after a bogie full of kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya was set afire at Godhra station on February 27. Over 50 people, mostly women and children, died in the attack.

The incident sparked an orgy of violence across the state that left over 900 dead, most of them Muslims.

The delegation -- comprising former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India leaders A B Bardhan and D Raja -- met Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh and Election Commissioners T S Krishnamurthy and B B Tandon for nearly 30 minutes.

They told the commission that a large number of people in the state were still living in relief camps and were unable to return to their homes.

Later, speaking to reporters, the leaders said the Election Commission gave them a patient hearing.

A delegation of SAHMAT, led by actress Sharmila Tagore, also called on the Election Commission to urging it to delay elections in the riot-torn state.

PTI

Complete coverage of the communal trouble in Gujarat

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