BJP lawmaker to move resolution on polls

Taking a cue from the prime minister’s pitch for simultaneous polls, a BJP MP is now moving a private member’s resolution in the Rajya Sabha, demanding holding of elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies together. However, there is no consensus among political parties, which expressed divergent views before a Parliamentary panel earlier.

Bhupender Yadav’s resolution, which also contains a demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s other pet demand on state funding of polls, has been listed for discussion on Friday. However, it is to be seen whether the matter will be taken up as the stalemate over demonetisation is yet to get cleared.

Yadav believes that continuous elections in the country is “highly time-consuming and involves a monumental wastage of financial, manpower and other resources”. “Separate elections affect stability, governance, administration, and stands as a hurdle in attending to people’s grievances, simultaneously bringing down economic growth due to the enforcement of the model code of conduct during elections,” the resolution read.

Lamenting that the high cost prevents those with modest financial resources from being competitive in elections, resulting inevitably in biased policy decisions, it argues for state funding as absence of public funding results in a “huge flow of black money”, which paves the way for the entry of undesirable elements into politics.

Asked whether simultaneous polls would provide an undue swing for a party, which is the frontrunner in the general elections, to get some extra seats in the Assemblies too, Yadav replied in the negative. “You do not need to see politics in everything,” he told DH.

Modi has raised the issue of simultaneous polls several times this year and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on personnel, public grievances, and law and justice, too, recommended such a measure last December.

After examining the committee report, the law ministry had sought the views of the Election Commission, which welcomed the idea, but cautioned against the high cost involved in such an exercise as well the need for curtailing or extending the term of some state Assemblies.