Local body results only after general elections

Hyderabad : Political parties in the State have heaved a sigh of relief with the Supreme Court directing the State Election Commission to announce the results of the elections to local bodies after the completion of the 2nd phase polling of the general election.

here is an unstated fear among all parties that an adverse verdict in the local bodies could severely damage their prospects in the simultaneous elections to Assembly and Lok Sabha. The apex court's order, giving nod to withhold the results has come as a big relief.

According to the schedule, the State Election Commission has to complete the polling for the local bodies by April 8 and has to announce the results on April 9. However, the general elections in the state are scheduled on April 30 and May 7.

This has unnerved the political parties because the outcome would certainly have an impact on the voting pattern in the general elections. Though the past experiences say that there is no relation between 'local' and general elections, parties are not ready to take the risk this time around as public perception about the parties has become very important.

A leader said that in the prevailing political situation in the State following bifurcation, the verdict in the local bodies would definitely have their impact to a larger extent on the coming elections.

Some parties do not have organizational structure in rural areas and are not sure of making big gains in the local bodies elections. Even the oldest and strong parties like Congress failed to field candidates in some of the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) in Seemandhra region due to the prevailing surcharged atmosphere.

The losses in the rural elections would unnerve the workers and would dent the confidence of leaders and the candidates. Several candidates have already spent lakhs of rupees for the general elections and the adverse 'local' results would demoralize them.

For some parties, adverse results would mean erosion of cadre, the most essential element for the poll exercise, at the grass root level. In fact, these parties wanted the State Election Commission to postpone the polls.

However, Supreme Court has taken a serious view of the non-conduct of elections and warned the SEC of serious consequences if it failed to conduct the polls.