On the issue of holding Lok Sabha and assembly polls, political parties were divided with four supporting the idea and nine opposing it, even as the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress stayed away from a consultation organised by the Law Commission on the subject.
Besides the NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal, the AIADMK, the Samajwadi Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti supported the idea at the end of the two-day consultation on simultaneous polls.
However, BJP ally Goa Forward Party opposed the concept as did the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, DMK, Telugu Desam Party, CPI, CPI (M), Forward Block and the Janata Dal (Secular).
The SP, TRS, AAP, DMK, TDP, JD (S) and All India Forward Block met the Law Commission to put forth their views.
The SP, represented by Ram Gopal Yadav, supported the concept. But Yadav made it clear that the first simultaneous poll should be held in 2019, when the term of the 16th Lok Sabha comes to an end.
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The DMK, JD-S and AIFB also opposed the concept. The CPI, AIDUF and Goa Forward Party also expressed similar views.
The sources said that BJP, which has voiced its support to the proposal, has requested more time from the Commission to present its views on the issue. It has been told to do so by July 31 as the term of the present panel ends in August end.
Meanwhile, the Congress said it will consult other opposition parties on the issue before making its mind.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had written to the panel, listing the party’s objections to the proposal stating that it goes beyond the ambit of law reform entailing major amendments to Constitution, and would run against both the “letter and spirit of our Constitution”.
The Law Commission’s internal working paper has recommended holding the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls simultaneously but in two phases beginning 2019 in seek to give shape to the government’s concept of “one nation, one election.”
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