Even as the BJP welcomed the announcement of the Karnataka poll schedule, the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress on Wednesday expressed its clear unhappiness over the Election Commission move questioning the need for the “great hurry” when the electoral rolls were not fully ready.

“We don’t understand what is the great hurry as rolls for all districts are not yet published and (electoral) maps of seven districts are not ready,” Prithviraj Chavan, AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, said immediately after the EC announcement.

“We don’t know when the final rolls will be published,” he said.  He also questioned the EC decision saying if the aim was to avoid the extension of President’s Rule in the State, that too would be negated as “anyway President’s Rule will have to be extended” as the new Assembly would not be constituted by May 19, the last day of the current spell. BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy saying, “We appreciate that the EC has announced timely polls in the State, which we have been demanding.” Alleging that the Congress had tried its best to delay polls in the State, Mr Rudy expressed confidence that his party would improve its standing and gain majority in the May elections.

The Congress said development and social justice would be the election planks of the party even as it would attack BJP and JD (S) over the “absolutely corrupt” government they had provided in the State for over 20 months. AICC media department chairman Veerappa Moily said the BJP would not get any sympathy vote as the Yeddyurappa government had fallen because of the BJP-JD(S) fight for supremacy. Mr Hariprasad downplayed the possibility of any threat of erosion of the Congress’ vote share because of the BSP factor, saying as long as Mallikarjuna Kharge, a Dalit, was the PCC chief and thus the leader of the State party in the campaign, Mayawati would not be a factor in Karnataka.