Gujarat BJP supports 'one nation, one election' idea, Congress calls it 'gimmick'

The Gujarat BJP on Friday welcomed the Centre's push for 'one nation, one election', saying frequent polls stall development works and push up cost of projects, but the opposition Congress dubbed the move as a "gimmick" to divert people's attention from key issues.

State BJP president CR Paatil said simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls would not only save time and money of people as well as government, but also help bring down cost of projects which are stalled due to imposition of the model code of conduct ahead of each poll.

However, the Congress termed the idea as a "gimmick" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divert people's attention from key issues like rising inflation.

The central government has constituted a committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind to explore the feasibility of "one nation, one election".

Sources said in New Delhi Kovind will explore the feasibility of the exercise and the mechanism to see as to how the country can go back to having simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls as was the case till 1967.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in the past talked in detail about the benefits of 'one nation one election', and what are the disadvantages of not having such a system. Since we do not follow 'one nation, one election' system, elections keep happening in the country round the year and government officials remain busy in that process," Paatil told reporters in Surat.

Due to frequent imposition of the model code of conduct during elections, many development works get stalled, depriving people of their timely benefits, claimed the BJP leader.

"It also increases the cost of projects and opens up doors for irregularities. In the past, our PM held a detailed discussion with citizens as well as different parties on how we can save this financial burden and man hours by following 'one nation one election' system. I am confident all political parties will show a positive approach towards this idea," he said.

The Lok Sabha MP from Surat further said all parties should support the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls in "national interest" instead of indulging in politics.

"This is a very important issue and I personally believe such a system should be adopted. Holding all elections simultaneously will save people's time and government's money. It will also stop delays in execution of projects. This will also allow government officials to devote enough time for pro-people work instead of getting engaged in election-related work all the time," Paatil said.

Similarly, politicians will get more time for doing pro-people work in their area as they will no longer be required to travel to different states during elections for canvassing, the BJP leader maintained.

Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil, however, disapproved the idea of simultaneous polls and termed the move as a "gimmick" by the ruling BJP to divert people's attention from key issues ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

"The first thing is that there is no concrete proposal yet. You are doing a gimmick by bringing such a proposal to divert people's attention from other important issues such as inflation and intrusion by China. This is a conspiracy to make an issue out a non-issue ahead of polls," said Gohil in Dwarka.