BJP Likely To Garner Public Opinion On 1 Nation, 1 Election

BJP Likely To Garner Public Opinion On 1 Nation, 1 Election

In the forthcoming months ruling BJP party is likely to ask for public support to hold a nationwide public debate to push for one nation-one election policy, as the proposal has not been able to garner political consensus in the parliament. A meeting has been called by BJP ministers to discuss the issue in the presence of PM Modi and the party’s chief Amit Shah. According to the agenda paper set for the meeting the ministers have sought their leaders’ views about holding both Lok Sabha and assembly polls simultaneously.

While the issue had been raised in the past by PM Modi, it was recently raised by president Ram Nath Kovind too before lawmakers in the recent budget session of parliament. The BJP party has said in the past too that multiple elections are an impediment to efficient governance and drain the public exchequer too after the imposition of “Model code of conduct”. The participants have been asked to state their views during the meeting scheduled for February 28, 2018, and also discuss ways to mobile opinion of general public on the issue using their own resources.

The party has a practice of conducting review meetings on a monthly basis to review implementation of welfare schemes sponsored by government and maintain coordination between state and center. The debate of one nation-one election has led to speculations that Lok Sabha polls may be held early to coincide with state assembly elections. But ambiguity still exists as finance minister Arun Jaitley of the BJP has affirmed that though the discussions about simultaneous polls are being done, the scheduled Lok Sabha polls will take place as pre-determined. The proposal has met with opposition by other parties that questioned the practically of holding large scale elections in a federal nation like India that has diverse religions and languages.