One thing is certain that this action of Joti would undermine the Election Commission’s credibility. It is bound to invite criticism and questions not only from the critics of Narendra Modi but from the common people. Joti owes an explanation to the country and people as to what made him delink Gujarat assembly elections from Himachal’s.

That there is a gap of 39 days between the voting and counting in Himachal also makes people skeptical. It is only in the case of phase-wise elections that normally the process takes such long time. Otherwise the election process is completed within a week or ten days. It may be recalled that a couple of days before the CEC’s announcement a senior BJP leader had spoken about the inauspicious days. Maybe Joti’s action was prompted by this consideration.

This, however, makes it apparent that the CEC was not averse to the HP election results influencing the outcome of the Gujarat poll. Just before pressing the electoral process in action, the EC has expressed the opinion that elections for the Gujarat assembly would be held before the electoral process in HP came to an end. The counting for the HP election would end by December 19. But the CEC indicated on Monday that Gujarat may go to polls in December as the term of the assembly would end in the third week of January 2018.

This is not for the first time that the Election Commission would have done this. There are numerous occasions when elections were advanced. If the CEC announced the date coinciding with the HP elections, it would not have been considered a breach.

It is astonishing that the BJP, which advocated holding of all state and central elections simultaneously, was so reluctant to hold the two elections together. It simply underlines that the saffron outfit was trying to influence the Election Commission. It has already vitiated the working and authority of the RBI, the judiciary, and other institutions. Now it is targeting the EC.

If the Himachal and Gujarat elections were held simultaneously, it would not be the first time. Five years ago elections in Gujarat and Himachal were held simultaneously. While a single phase election was held in Himachal on 4 November 2012, Gujarat had a two-phased election on 13 December and 17 December. The results for both the states were declared on 20 December.

It is clear that the BJP has been putting obstacles to holding simultaneous elections. The Gujarat government had asked for additional time as the relief and rehabilitation work following the July floods was yet to be completed. Since the roads in parts of the state were washed off, the rehabilitation work could begin only in September. As such the state sought for more time for the announcement of the poll schedule and the model code of conduct coming into force.

The fact of the matter is that the Modi government and Gujarat’s BJP government are scared of facing the people. The BJP has already vitiated the situation in the state with its vigilante actions. The dalits are facing brutal oppression; Muslims are living under threat and fear. The state has failed to achieve development. The Modi government is hoping for some miracle to happen for people to forget all this. (IPA Service)