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'You cannot convert a nark raj into a Ram rajya in 15 days'

Chief Election Commissioner Dr Manohar Singh Gill said the issue of proxy voting by non-resident Indians and military personnel could be decided only after Parliament gives its approval.

Addressing the media in Bombay, Dr Gill said he would take up the issue with the next government at the Centre. ''After all, they, too, are citizens of our country."

Coming down heavily on his critics, the CEC said they tend to overlook the gigantic task faced by the Election Commission -- while nearly 600 million voters exercise their franchise at about 900,000 polling booths, the country has only five million polling staff. "People expect miracles from us,'' he said. ''The problem is that you cannot convert a nark raj(hell) into a Ram rajya in 15 days. After all, we have a population of nearly one billion."

Dr Gill also took a serious note of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's remarks against state Chief Election Officer Noor Mohammed. "We are further disturbed that Kalyan Singh referred to the officer's religious practices," he added.

Striking an optimistic note, he hoped that political parties would do their bit to ensure a free and fair election.

Without naming any state, Dr Gill said incidents like booth capturing take place in only those states where illiteracy and social discrimination were rampant. He said no such incidents have reported from states like Punjab and Kerala.

Asked about the Kalyan Singh government's violation of the Model Code of Conduct by announcing poll sops, Dr Gill said he has taken note of the fact.

He, however, evaded a question about the differences between him and Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurty. "All the three EC members have equal voting rights,'' he said. The two officials had clashed over the Shiv Sena's organisation election.

Interestingly, Dr Gill met Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Wednesaday morning. Refusing to disclose details of the meeting, he said the discussion revolved around cartoons, of which ''I am very fond."

Asked about the five-phase election schedule, he said, "Even a state like Goa asks for the Central Reserve Police Force during the election. So, it is not possible to hold an election all over the country on the same day as the security forces have to be moved from one end of the country to another."

Asked about delimiting constituencies, he expressed dissatisfaction over a notification issued by Parliament which has frozen the process till 2001.

Regarding voters's identity cards, Dr Gill said, ''Instead of cribbing about non-receipt of the cards, voters should themselves approach the official concerned. It is a moral responsibility of every citizen to get his own voter's card."

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