Wednesday, September 7 2005 11:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon today (Sept 7, 2005) turned down the request by several political parties for revising the dates for Bihar polls, saying the Election Commission had announced the schedule after taking into consideration all aspects.

''There would be no revision of the election schedule and we have announced it after giving due consideration to religious festivals and all other aspects,'' Tandon, who arrived here on a two-day visit to Bihar to assess poll preparedness, told reporters at the airport.

Several parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Communist Party of India (CPI) had sought revision of the poll schedule in view of the Ramzan and Dussera as also flood in some parts of the state. Moreover, as per a Supreme Court judgement it was mandatory for the commission to complete the election process within six months of the dissolution of the earlier house, which expires on November 22, he said.

Before leaving for Gaya to hold discussion with top officials of Magadh division, Tandon said that the commission wanted 'effective deployment' of central para-military personnel to the maximum extent possible "so there is no question of having any rethink on the number of phases in which the polling will be held or the dates".

''The aspect of movement of the CPMF has also been taken into account before announcing the schedule,'' Tandon said.

The CEC said that after receipt of complaints of violation of the Model Code of Conduct he had sent a two-member commission team, led by its advisor K J Rao, to the state capital yesterday and appropriate action would be taken after going through its report.

A high-level National Democratic Alliance (NDA) delegation had yesterday (Sept 6, 2005) called on the Election Commission seeking cancellation of appointments made by Bihar Governor Buta Singh to various statutory and other bodies on Saturday in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Tandon also asked Patna district magistrate B Rajendra to look into the complaints regarding sale of form 001 (used by applicants seeking photo I-cards) and submit his report by this evening.

The CEC said that he would discuss with senior officials, including divisional commissioner of Magadh division, zonal IG, district magistrates and police superintendents various issues for conduct of a fair and peaceful poll including law and order and progress in issuing electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) to voters. A similar meeting would be held with officers of the Tirhut division at Muzaffarpur tomorrow.

He said that the commission was very serious about ensuring 'smooth and peaceful' polling in Naxalite-hit districts and for this he had convened a meeting of chief secretaries and directors-general of police of Bihar and Jharkhand in Delhi on September 9, 2005.