Oppn MPs question bills on ONOE, BJP members support it

New Delhi, PTI: A robust exchange of contesting views on Wednesday marked the first meeting of a parliamentary panel scrutinising two bills on conducting simultaneous polls, with opposition members criticising the concept as an attack on the basic fabric of the Constitution and federalism, and BJP MPs hailing it as reflective of popular opinion. The MPs attending the meeting of the 39-member Joint Parliamentary Committee expressed their views and asked questions following a presentation by the Ministry of Law and Justice on the provisions of the bills and the rationale guiding them.

A number of opposition MPs, including Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, questioned the claim that simultaneous polls will reduce expenditure. They asked if any estimate was made following the 2004 Lok Sabha elections when EVMs were used for the first time in all 543 seats and are believed to have brought down the cost incurred. BJP MPs, the sources added, countered the charge that the 'one nation one election' proposal flouted constitutional values by requiring an early dissolution of several state assemblies and locking their term with the Lok Sabha's.

Noting that seven state assemblies were dissolved early in 1957 to ensure all state elections are held alongside the national elections, Sanjay Jaiswal asked if the likes of then president Rajendra Prasad, who was also the chairman of Constituent Assembly, and other eminent lawmakers, including those in the Nehru government, acted in violation of the Constitution.