New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday pitched for simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies and called for the same voters’ list for all polls, as the ruling party submitted its views to former president Ram Nath Kovind-led committee on ‘one nation, one election’.
Briefing reporters after he led his party’s delegation to meet the committee, BJP president J P Nadda said they proposed that if holding all the three-tier polls together was not possible immediately, then Lok Sabha and assembly elections can be held together first.
But in the long run, local body polls should also be held alongside Lok Sabha and assembly elections or it will defeat the purpose due to the frequent imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), he said.
The committee should evolve a consensus on holding simultaneous elections, Nadda said, expressing confidence that everyone will move together on this.
Major opposition parties, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the DMK, have strongly opposed the idea, first mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dubbing it as an assault on the country’s federal structure.
Highlighting the points his party made in its representation, Nadda said the MCC is often imposed in different parts of the country as one or another election is held, affecting administration and good governance a lot.
Ongoing pro-people work is stopped during the period of an election, often three times in a state, bringing stagnation to economic activities and adding to financial burdens on political parties and on governments, he said, adding that it also gives rise to corruption.
Security forces deployed for internal and external security are also used for poll duties frequently in case of separate elections, Nadda said, noting that civil staff like teachers and health sector workers are also part of election work. This adversely affects administration and pro-people work, he said.
The BJP wants that the law should be amended for holding simultaneous polls, Nadda said, favouring a consensus.
Nadda was accompanied by party leaders Bhupender Yadav, also a Union minister, and Om Pathak in making the representation to the committee.
