Former State Election Commissioner P Kamalkutty says all parties resort to gerrymandering

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former State Election Commissioner P. Kamalkutty has said all political parties resorted to gerrymandering mainly for political reasons rather than communal factors.

According to him, all political parties have from time to time resorted to gerrymandering for electoral benefits. On the present impasse over local body poll, Mr Kamalkutty said even during his tenure as commissioner, elections were postponed by a month.

“At that time, the elections were to be held in September 2010 but it was extended to October 2010. We could go for the extension without any problems because of political consensus. All parties had agreed to the decision at that time following which the High Court granted the extension. However, a similar consensus is missing this time around,” he added.

He said the delimitation exercise and creation of municipalities and corporation were an exhaustive process. “While creating new municipalities, you will have to disturb the block panchayats, grama panchayats and the district panchayats. Delimitation of the new wards will take a lot of time as many things have to be factored in. It is in this context, the election commission has asked for more time,” he said.

Mr Kamalkutty said the census figures were out in 2011 and the government should have made up its mind for delimitation the next year itself. Ideally, the process should have been completed by December 2014 to give enough time for holding the poll in a time-bound manner.

Meanwhile, experts say even if the government and commission come on the same page for holding elections to local bodies in November 2015 and even get favourable verdict from the High Court, there is still a possibility of legal hurdles.

The High Court verdict could be challenged citing the apex court verdict on Kishan Singh Tomar vs Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad which directed for holding elections within the time mandated by the Constitution.