The Asian Age

Prez, Modi push triple talaq bill, joint polls

◗ With both the President and PM calling for a debate on holding simultaneo­us polls, speculatio­ns gained momentum that the NDA govt could be planning to advance the LS polls and hold it along with the Assembly polls

- AGE CORRESPOND­ENT

With both President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday seeking a debate on holding simultaneo­us polls for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, speculatio­n grew that the NDA government might be planning to advance the Lok Sabha polls and hold it along with Assembly elections later this year.

President Kovind, in his maiden address to a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, called for a “sustained debate” on holding simultaneo­us polls, while Mr Modi, addressing NDA leaders, asked them to work to create a favourable environmen­t in this regard.

Both the President and the PM also expressed hope for early parliament­ary approval of the triple talaq bill, saying there should be “no politics” over this issue.

With both President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday calling for a debate on holding simultaneo­us polls for the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies, speculatio­ns gained momentum that the NDA government could be planning to advance the Lok Sabha elections and hold it along with the Assembly elections late this year.

In his maiden address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament at the beginning of the Budget Session, Mr Kovind called for a “sustained debate” on holding simultaneo­us polls, saying all parties need to arrive at a consensus over the issue.

Later Mr Modi, while addressing the meeting of NDA leaders, asked them to works towards creating an environmen­t in favour of holding simultaneo­us polls. Mr Modi, who has been strongly pitching for simultaneo­us polls, had recently said that like festivals, elections should be held on fixed dates so that government­s can function for five years and also relentless electoral cycle harms the federal structure. He had also said that barbs exchanged during campaignin­g in one state have a bearing in other parts of the country which are not going to polls.

Addressing the issue in

his speech to the joint sitting of the two Houses, Mr Kovind said that citizens alive to the state of governance in the country were concerned about frequent elections in one part of the country or another, which adversely impacted the economy and developmen­t.

“Frequent elections not only impose a huge burden on human resources, but also impede the developmen­t process due to the promulgati­on of the model code of conduct,” he said.

The President said a “sustained debate” was required on the subject of simultaneo­us elections and “all political parties need to arrive at a consensus on this issue.”

However, newlyappoi­nted Chief Election Commission­er O. P. Rawat had recently thrown a word of caution over the issue, saying the legal framework required to hold the two elections together will take a “lot of time” to get ready.

 ??  ?? Ram Nath Kovind
Ram Nath Kovind

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