Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy, who steps down as CEC on April 20, paving the way for Navin Chawla to take over, has convened an all-party-meeting at 1000 hrs on Tuesday, to take stock of the law and order situation and also take note of the views of the political parties so that the commission can make a decision on the dates for the Lok Sabha elections.
The other election commissioners Navin Chawla and S Y Qureshi are expected to take part in the meeting. Major political parties including the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and other political outfits are expected to air their views.
This is the first time the meeting of the commission is being held under such controversial circumstances. Gopalaswamy had sought the removal of Chawla and accused him of being partisan towards the party that had appointed him.
The government is no mood to oblige CEC despite the fact that the President had forwarded the letter written to her to the Prime Minister's Office. Prime minister Manmohan Singh who is back to his residence after a week long rest after major surgery of the heart is not prepared to give in to the pressures from the opposition.
According to sources, elections may be held between 8 April to15 May, so that the new government could be formed as soon as possible.
Gopalswami wants bar on CEC/ECs joining politics