Politics

TMC, CPI, DMK oppose proposal for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls; BJP, Congress skip law panel meet

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The main ruling party at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the principal opposition party, the Congress, were conspicuous by their absence at the consultations between political parties and the Law Commission of India that began on Saturday over a proposal to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections.

While members from the BJP and the Congress were not present in the meeting, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) were the two recognised national parties to attend the consultation.

The concept of simultaneous polls was opposed by TMC, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) while NDA’s ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) supported the concept.

Kalyan Banerjee, Lok Sabha MP and Trinamool Congress chief whip in the house, said: “You can’t have such simultaneous elections in a federal structure. Let’s say there is simultaneous election in 2019 and then, after a year, the government falls. Does it mean that all states will also go for a fresh poll?”

Goa Forward Party is a BJP ally but told the panel that holding parallel Lok Sabha and state assembly polls will be to the disadvantage of the regional parties.

Samajwadi Party expressed its approval, however, it said that the polls should be conducted in 2019. The AIADMK said holding both the polls together is “desirable”, but certain “practical” and “serious” issues need to be settled first. The AIADMK, which rules Tamil Nadu, was of the view that if necessary, simultaneous elections should be held in 2024, not before that.

While the BJP said it would send its view to the panel at a later date, Law Commission chairman BS Chauhan is said to have asked.the party to make its submissions on the issue by month-end. BJP MP and head of its media department, Anil Baluni, emphasised that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had first proposed holding simultaneous polls and there should be no doubt about the party’s commitment to the idea. “One nation, one poll is our commitment. We will present our ideas with full preparation,” he said. Congress spokesperson RPN Singh said the party would consult all other opposition parties and then write to the panel.

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Farmer deaths old problem, steps taken to give them relief: Prabhu

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Farmer deaths were an old problem and the Narendra Modi government had taken many steps to alleviate the difficulties of the cultivators, Union minister Suresh Prabhu said today.

Addressing a press conference at the West Bengal BJP headquarters here, he said the Modi government had taken several farmer-friendly measures, including increasing the minimum support price for their produce, giving them relief from agricultural debt and announcing a crop-insurance scheme.

“The occurrence of farmer deaths is a fact, but one must understand that it is an old problem persisting for years. Modi has done much more for the farmers in his four years as prime minister than what was done for them in the last 70 years,” the Union commerce and civil aviation minister said.

He added that crop failures due to drought or floods had led to incidents of farmer suicide in certain parts of the country, when the monsoon failed or there was a deluge.

Claiming that Modi was the most popular among the democratically-elected prime ministers of the world, the BJP leader said, “Sixty-nine per cent of the people are happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. You will not be able to find another democratically-elected head of a country as popular in the fifth year of his tenure.”

He also claimed that there was no one in the country to challenge the popularity of Modi.

Asked whether the BJP was putting its full force in West Bengal with a stream of visits by party president Amit Shah, Union ministers and the upcoming public meeting of Modi at Midnapore on July 16, Prabhu said the state unit of the saffron party was quite strong and did not require any extra fillip.

“It is only because the Centre gives Bengal its due importance that many Union ministers are visiting the state, unlike during the (days of the) previous governments when hardly anyone came,” he said.

Shah had, at a recent public rally in Purulia, said the BJP was in power in 21 states and its next target was to wrest West Bengal from the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.

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