SIMULTANEOUS POLLS: NO REPLY FROM PARTIES TO LAW PANEL

NEW DELHI: No major political party has responded to the Law Commission’s call for views on holding simultaneous national and state elections, two top commission officials involved in the exercise said on Monday.

On April 17, in a working paper titled “Simultaneous Elections – constitutional and legal perspectives”, the panel listed a series of legal and constitutional changes needed for holding simultaneous polls, and appealed to stakeholders, including political parties, to give their comments by May 8. The discussion paper was also submitted to the law ministry.

“No national or regional party has sent in any suggestions or comments... We will soon begin inviting them for talks,” one of the officials cited above said.

The BJP, which proposed the idea, too did not respond. Party leaders said its views are already well known and have been expressed at different platforms.

“The BJP has articulated its views in favour of simultaneous polls and encouraged debate on this issue…Though many parties are for simultaneous elections, they fear the PM is immensely popular and the BJP will benefit from it,” party MP GVL Narasimha Rao said. He added that simultaneous polls will provide a level playing field to parties while reducing election expenditure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi revived the debate on holding simultaneous polls soon after coming to power in May 2014. The government wrote to the Election Commission in 2015 seeking its views. President Ram Nath Kovind backed the idea in his joint address to both Houses of Parliament at the start of the budget session this year.

“Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy is the only chief minister who has written to the law panel. He opposed the idea, calling it ‘unconstitutional and against the federal structure’”, an official said. The two officials were also present at a meeting on the issue between the law panel and representatives of the Election Commission on May 16 .