BJP, Congress skip law panel meet on simultaneous Lok Sabha, state assembly elections

The main ruling party at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the principal opposition party, the Congress, were conspicuous by their absence at the consultations between political parties and the Law Commission of India that began on Saturday over a proposal to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections.

National Democratic Alliance constituent Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, have supported the idea but with riders, and are in favour of simultaneous polls being implemented from 2024, a senior official said after the series of meetings.

Other parties which met the law panel officials, including the Trinamool Congress, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and Goa Forward Party, during the day have strongly opposed the proposal, the official added on condition of anonymity.

Kalyan Banerjee, Lok Sabha MP and Trinamool Congress chief whip in the house, said: “You can’t have such simultaneous elections in a federal structure. Let’s say there is simultaneous election in 2019 and then, after a year, the government falls. Does it mean that all states will also go for a fresh poll?”

Goa Forward Party is a BJP ally but told the panel that holding parallel Lok Sabha and state assembly polls will be to the disadvantage of the regional parties.

A number of smaller parties from the ruling coalition and the opposition are participating in the deliberations.

While the BJP said it would send its view to the panel at a later date, Law Commission chairman BS Chauhan is said to have asked.the party to make its submissions on the issue by month-end. BJP MP and head of its media department, Anil Baluni, emphasised that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had first proposed holding simultaneous polls and there should be no doubt about the party’s commitment to the idea. “One nation, one poll is our commitment. We will present our ideas with full preparation,” he said. Congress spokesperson RPN Singh said the party would consult all other opposition parties and then write to the panel.

SAD lawmaker Naresh Gujral, who met the law panel officials, said his party supports simultaneous polls because “it will mean a saving of time and money to the nation.” Gujral said the frequent imposition of the model code of conduct for conduct of elections also impeded governance. The NDA ally, has, however opposed the law panel’s idea of extending the term of an assembly to align it with the general elections. “This will give an undue advantage to the ruling party in a state in the Rajya Sabha polls,” he said.

SAD has also asked the law panel to suggest repealing Article 356 of the constitution which allows for President’s rule in a state, Gujral said.

Lawmakers from the Biju Janata Dal, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, All India Forward Block and Rashtriya Lok Dal have confirmed sending their representatives to the exercise, which concludes on Tuesday.

On June 14, Law Commission chairman Chauhan had written to political parties seeking their views on the issue. On July 5, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury had responded to the letter saying his party viewed the proposal as “inherently ant- democratic.” The Left party also said that the idea negated federalism, a basic feature of the constitution.

The panel had on April 18 released a draft working paper after a full commission meeting. It said sweeping changes in the law would be needed, including amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act and the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies for holding simultaneous elections.