1044 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
(37)
*FIXING OF ELECTION DATES
93. Shri Kamath : Will the Minister of Law be pleased to state :
(a) Whether Government have decided upon a date or dates for the holding of elections to the House of the People and the State Legislative Assemblies;
(b) If so, what that decision is, and between winch dates polling will be held in each of the States;
(c) By what date the final results are expected to be declared with regard to the House of the People as well as the various State Legislative Assemblies; and
(d) When it is proposed to constitute the Council of States at the Centre and Legislative Councils in the States, and to elect the President of the Indian Union ?
The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar): (a) Yes.
(b) Polling is scheduled to begin on or about the 3rd January and end by the 24th January, 1952, subject to such minor adjustments of the dates as might be necessary to meet exceptional difficulties that might exist in certain areas. In Himachal Pradesh, in parts of Kangra district in Punjab and, possibly in the high attitude regions of Uttar Pradesh, the polling may have to be finished by the end of October this year, since later on these, areas will get snow-bound.
(c) The Election Commission has proposed the 15th February 1952 as the date by which the declaration of results is to be completed.
(d) While it is not possible to say precisely at this stage when the Council of States and the State Legislative Councils will be constituted, it is expected that on the basis of the programme outlined above, it should be possible to constitute these Houses by about the end of March 1952. The election of the President will take place immediately after the due constitution of the two Houses of Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies.
*P. D., Vol. 9, Part I, 9th August 1951, p. 116.