BENGALURU/MYSURU: The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) is likely to postpone the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2019, which is set to kick off on April 23, as the date coincides with the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state.KEA executive director Girish R on Sunday said discussions and deliberations will be held with the PU board director over the next few days to examine the issue.“During elections, most of the staff would be engaged in election duty. There is also the issue of non-availability of examination rooms during election time. We will meet the PU director and other officials, discuss the issue and then take a call on whether to postpone CET,” Girish said. “If at all, it’ll be postponed by only two or three days,” he added.CET is the gateway for entry to engineering, pharmacy and other professional courses in the state.Sanjiv Kumar, chief electoral officer (CEO) for Karnataka, said the clash of dates might not have come to the notice of the Election Commission of India (ECI). “The same will be brought to the ECI’s notice. The KEA could itself take a call to postpone the exams,” he added.Special commissioner (elections) Manoj Kumar Meena said the ECI has announced the dates and if CET is scheduled on April 23, then the examination board will have to reschedule it.On Sunday, the ECI announced that Karnataka will vote in two phases — phase 2 on April 18 and phase 3 on April 23. As per the timetable published by KEA, biology and mathematics papers of CET are scheduled to be held from 10.30am on April 23, while physics and chemistry papers are to be held on April 24. Kannada language test (only in Bengaluru) is slated for April 25.The JEE Main examination, organised by the National Testing Agency, is also slated to be held between April 7 (Sunday) and April 20.The poll dates in Karnataka — April 18 and April 23 — will clash with an extended weekend, which could affect turnout of voters.While April 17 is Mahavir Jayanti, April 19 is Good Friday, to be followed by the Easter weekend. Moreover, it’s summer holidays for students and many tend to travel at that time. “As a family, we generally go out of station and will do this time too. I doubt we’ll be able to vote,” said Rekha Bhatkal, a resident of Sadashivanagar.“The turnout could be less due to vacation. Locals are likely to cast their vote but migrants may give it a miss,” said Niveditha Sunkad, a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar.Political parties are divided over the impact. BJP state general secretary and spokesperson N Ravi Kumar was confident holidays won’t affect the election. “The voter percentage has been seeing an increase from 40% to 65%,” he pointed out.KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao said the turnout may be hit, but citizens need to be responsible and cast their vote.

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