Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the Bharatiya Janata Party cadre to prepare the roadmap for “one nation, one election”. He has asked to reach consensus on holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies.
While addressing a meeting of the Niti Aayog on Wednesday, Modi urged the intelligentsia to put pressure on political parties to support the agenda of simultaneous polls.
The prime minister has tasked the law ministry under his senior colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad to work out the strategies on implementing ‘One Nation, One Election’ project in 2019.
Citing that same is being implemented in foreign countries, a parliamentary committee on feasibility of holding simultaneous elections also concluded that it could be implemented in India as well with amendments and legislation. However, the Congress has termed the move “unworkable and impractical”.
The election commission has already announced it is ready to hold the common elections, as it has enough number of extra electronic voting machines. The extra staff for conducting the joint elections is available with central and state governments.