NEW DELHI, Feb 20: 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 it told the former president Ram Nath Kovind-led committee on ‘one nation, one election’ that this will help realise the aspirations of a “Viksit Bharat”.
“’One nation, one election’ is a concept whose time has come and we need to provide a model governance structure for our youths by implementing this idea in the ‘Amrit Kaal’,” a BJP delegation led by party president J P Nadda said.
Frequent elections cause religious, caste and political divisions in addition to political instability and an adverse impact on the economy, the party in its representation to the committee said. It added that simultaneous polls will boost corporate and foreign investment.
It will strengthen the country’s federal structure as well, it said.
Briefing reporters, Nadda said his party has proposed that if holding 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.
The BJP in its representation cited Prime Minister Modi’s assertions to say that simultaneous polls will bring about nine positive changes, including making good governance a central point of politics, curbing avoidable usage of resources and controlling corruption in politics.
Cutting the influence of black money, limiting the effect of divisive and polarising politics seen during frequent elections, strengthening political stability and adding to politicians’ democratic responsibility were among the other likely impacts cited by the BJP.
The BJP wants that the law should be amended for holding simultaneous polls, Nadda said, favouring a consensus. (PTI)
