Zeenews Bureau
Allahabad: In a tactical move which can help the Uttar Pradesh government in the coming assembly elections, UP Board of Secondary Education has announced its schedule to hold exams in March –a move preferred by Mayawati’s BSP.
A report published in a leading daily, Thursday, claimed that the announcement to hold board examination in March will put extra pressure on the Election Commission, which is on its toes to complete the electoral work by the end of February.
Holding the board exams in March will force the Election Commission to postpone elections till April, which is likely to give more time to the Mayawati government to prepare for polls.
By announcing the March 1-April 4 schedule, the UP Board of Secondary Education has cautioned the EC that holding assembly polls before examination will hamper students` preparations and cut teachers available for the election duty.
Meanwhile, the practical exams will also start from January 15 and will continue till mid-February.
“The EC had already been notified about the schedule,”Anno Prabha Tripathi, secretary, UP Board, was quoted as saying.
Traditionally, UP Board examinations start towards the end of March first week and continue till the middle of April. Last year, the exams began on March 17 as teachers were involved in the Census work.
However, this year by starting the exams from March 1 and finishing well before the usual date (March 24 for the high school and April 4 for the intermediate), the UP government seems to have left enough window to hold the elections in April-a schedule Mayawati prefers.
BSP wants to hold the elections in April so that by virtue of its majority, it could get maximum members elected to the Rajya Sabha, the biennial poll for which is also due before April.
