The Congress wants elections in the state to be held after the constituency delimitation exercise is completed, possibly in October as that would give the party more time. Some Congress leaders hope that an increase in reserved seats would benefit the party while the delay would dilute sympathy for the BJP over being ditched by its alliance partner Janata Dal (S), which led to the imposition of President’s Rule in the state.

Central rule is due to expire on May 28 and the BJP has strongly opposed its extension, calling for elections to be held soon and accusing the Congress of trying to manipulate its timing.

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, along with ECs Navin Chawla and S Y Quraishi visited Bangalore today to review the preparation of electoral rolls and redrawing of constituencies as recommended by the Delimitation Commission. Gopalaswami said the Election Commission would decide by April 15 if it would hold polls before the end of May or later.