SP govt. wants assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh in February

New Delhi, Nov 16 (UNI) The Uttar Pradesh government has petitioned the Election Commission to hold assembly elections in the state in February next year, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh disclosed today.

''We have demanded that the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh be held in February next year, but it is the Election Commission which will take the final decision,'' Mr Singh told reporters here.

The tenure of the present assembly in Uttar Pradesh will come to an end in March next year.

State Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has also favoured early assembly polls in the state.

''We want the election on time, and if required, before the completion of five-year term of the assembly,'' Mr Yadav told a press conference at Lucknow yesterday.

Mr Yadav also ruled out any proposal to dissolve the assembly at this moment, saying the ball was in the EC's court and it had to decide when to hold the polls.

To a query whether Governor T V Rajeshewar Rao was making moves to dismiss the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, Mr Amar Singh said it was possible. ''The Governor can do anything,'' he quipped.

He said this had been the history of the Congress, which dismissed the governments in Bihar, Jharkhand and Goa. ''It can also be done in Uttar Pradesh.'' Mr Yadav had echoed similar feelings at his press conference in Lucknow yesterday.

''I have specific information about state Governor T.V. Rajeshwar sending his report to the Centre to dismiss the present coalition government in the state,'' he said.

However, a Congress spokesperson at the party headquarters yesterday denied any such report.

UNI/SKS MSJ RK1815