BJD, YSR Cong back synced polls with riders

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New Delhi: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the YSR Congress Tuesday supported the idea of simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies, albeit with certain riders.
Deposing before the Law Commission — that has invited all national and state recognised parties for face to face consultations on simultaneous polls — BJD MP Pinaki Misra said his party is among the first to have mooted this proposal several years ago and supports it. The meeting was held from 3 pm to 4 pm here
“The historical fact is that our party was the first to moot this idea and in fact boldly implemented it in 2004…when our Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took the unprecedented and visionary step of dissolving the state assembly and advancing our assembly elections to coincide with Parliament elections,” Misra said after meeting the law panel.
He, however, said that his party was “strongly against” any dilution of the anti-defection provisions for the sake of prolonging the life of Lok Sabha or any state assembly in case the government loses its majority prematurely.
“Instead we would suggest adoption of the German model by which no vote of ‘no confidence’ can be entertained unless it is also accompanied by a vote of confidence proposal. This will ensure that no government can be vote dout without also at the same time voting in a fresh government,” he added.
YSR Congress Rajya Sabha MP P Vijaysai Reddy said his party is a supporter of the idea of ‘one nation, one election’ in the larger interest of the nation. He added that the powers vested in the Speaker should be divested and the Election Commission or some other authority must be vested with the power of disposing of disqualification petition.
The Law Commission had been holding consultations with all national and state political parties to study the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies. The panel which often studies and recommends on legal affairs to the government has already prepared a draft paper on the issue ‘Simultaneous Elections – Constitutional and Legal Perspectives’ and is seeking the opinions of all parties, constitutional experts and others.
Law Commission chairman BS Chauhan, in a letter to the Chief Minister June 26, had sought the latter’s opinion on the proposal to conduct state elections and Lok Sabha elections together.