Shah' push for simultaneous polls draws mixed reactions

A day after BJP president Amit Shah made a fresh push for simultaneous polls, the Congress today dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dissolve the Lok Sabha so that its elections could be held with those due in four states later this year, while Shiv Sena mocked its NDA ally, saying it may hold Indian polls together with the US and Russia.

On its part, the BJP asserted that it was in favour of holding simultaneous polls as per the law and with consensus, but rejected reports that it had plans to hold assembly polls in 11 states together with those of the Lok Sabha.

Amid mixed political reactions, Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat virtually ruled out holding simultaneous elections anytime soon saying it was not possible without a legal framework as any extension or curtailment of the term of assemblies will require a constitutional amendment.

Bihar Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Nitish Kumar also spoke on similar lines, saying the 'one nation, one poll' proposal was not implementable in the forthcoming general elections though it was a good idea.

Amid talks of simultaneous polls, the Congress dared Modi to dissolve the Lok Sabha early and announce general elections along with polls in four states where the terms of the assemblies end this year.

Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot asserted that postponing the upcoming state assembly elections and conducting these with Lok Sabha polls in 2019 is "not possible" under the Constitution or the law.

He said elections in Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will have to be conducted before the terms of these assemblies end.

"There is only one way of holding simultaneous elections. The prime minister should dissolve the Lok Sabha and hold polls along with the four state assembly elections," Gehlot told a press conference.

"The Congress will welcome it. We are prepared," he said.

The BJP's bickering ally Shiv Sena used the debate to take potshots at its bigger partner, saying it "may even propose to hold the elections simultaneously with those in the US and Russia."