Every stakeholder in this country is painfully aware that the longer the Lok Sabha is vacant, the more severe will be the damage inflicted on all aspects of national life. Growth will be the main casualty as every economic agent would postpone his investment and decision-making until the results of the election are known. A slowdown in FDI flow, FII portfolio flow, delay in unloading PSU shares, postponement of investments by industry, will all have serious repercussions on GDP growth, all aspects of the economy, and even on foreign policy issues.

While the EC is fully entitled to decide on the polling dates, it is important that it goes about this process in a transparent fashion. The signals emanating from the EC are causing much concern and confusion. The EC's criteria forchoosing the poll timing should be getting the elections conducted as quickly as possible. With that end in mind, the EC should carefully eliminate considerations that are extraneous to this objective.

For example, updating electoral rolls is an ongoing process and is hardly a reason to delay elections, particularly when industrial growth continues to be in the doldrums, and the need of the hour is for firm hand on the ship of policy-making. Similarly, exploring whether to combine assembly polls with parliamentary elections would end up delaying the parliamentary poll. This delay would prove to be very costly to the nation in all spheres -- economic, social as well as political. Put plainly, it would be wrong on the part of the EC to use its discretionary power to delay the election. Its focus should rather be on how to get through this election, which has been thrust upon the nation, as early as possible, with the minimum of fuss.

Instead of throwing up all sorts of objections, it should on thecontrary examine how it should gear up its operations to get the job done soon and reasonably well. The Constitution intends the holding of elections as quickly as possible. The time for political crystallisation, when the parliament stands dissolved, should be kept to the minimum in a parliamentary democracy. Polarisation and alignments should be an ongoing process in normal parliamentary working, and should not be outside it. If need be, the President must intervene to ensure that extraneous circumstances are kept out of the decision on poll timing and satisfy himself that the election dates are set as early as feasible.