Simultaneous polls: Cong asks if BJP ready to cut short Guj

The Congress today asked if the BJP will agree to early dissolution of the Gujarat Assembly, as the ruling party's national president, Amit Shah, has endorsed the idea of simultaneous elections.

Shah yesterday wrote to the Law Commission, saying that simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will curb expenditure and ensure that the country is not always in "election mode".

Asked for a comment, Congress's Gujarat in-charge Rajiv Satav sought to know if the Assembly in BJP-ruled Gujarat, where elections were held last December, too will be dissolved for this purpose.

"They (BJP) should declare whether they also plan to dissolve the Gujarat Assembly under one nation-one election (plan). If you plan to undertake this, you will have to carry it out across the country," Satav told reporters here.

"So, is the BJP also planning to dissolve the Gujarat Assembly? The party should clarify its stand," he said.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani hit back at the Congress over Satav's comment, asking if the party was serious about discussing the concept.

"(Terms of) Vidhan Sabha (Assembly), Lok Sabha, Panchayats, etc., will have to be gradually synchronised for one nation-one poll. I would like to ask Congress if its intention is right and if it wants to do so," Rupani said.

"Congress does not want to talk about national interest. It is doing politics of vote-bank and caste. (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi has come up with the concept (of simultaneous polls) because it is in the country's interest," Rupani said, when asked for his reaction.