TRS welcomes simultaneous elections; ally AIMIM says no

The ruling TRS in Telangana Wednesday welcomed the idea of simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies while its ally in the state, the AIMIM, said the proposal violated the basic structure of India's constitution.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier convened an all-party meeting to discuss the issue of 'one nation, one election' which was attended by both the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

However, several other opposition parties, including the Congress, skipped the meeting as they were opposed to the idea.

A committee for giving "time-bound" suggestions on simultaneous elections will be set up by Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced after the meeting.

"It is definitely a welcome decision to conduct simultaneous elections whatever the practical problems," TRS working president K T Rama Rao told reporters in New Delhi.

Conducting elections in phases, with the model code of conduct remaining in force for about seven months created an impression among people that governance took a backseat, Rama Rao, who represented the TRS in the all-party meeting.

Holding elections in a time-bound manner would help in reducing the influence of money and budgeting would also be easy if national and state elections are held together, he said.

TRS would cooperate if any Constitutional amendments or other measures are required to be made for the purpose, Rama Rao, son of TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said.

However, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, who represented his party at the meeting, said simultaneous elections violated the basic structure of India's constitution.

"I reiterated our stand that simultaneous elections are inconsistent with parliamentary democracy and federalism. Therefore, they violate the basic structure of our Constitution," he tweeted.