No study held on need for simultaneous polls: MIM chief tells law commission

Owaisi said no attempts were made to assess if there a need at all for simultaneous elections.
Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, one of the opposition leaders in Telangana assembly. | PTI
Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, one of the opposition leaders in Telangana assembly. | PTI

HYDERABAD: Simultaneous elections is a “solution in search of a problem”, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has told the Law Commission of India (LCI) in response to its call for a meeting with political parties and stakeholders before making final recommendations on the matter. In a letter addressed to chairman Justice Balbir Chauhan on Saturday, Owaisi said no attempts were made to assess if there a need at all for simultaneous elections. “Logistical difficulties such as expenditure cannot be a sufficient reason to amend the basic structure of the Constitution,” he said. 

The MP directed Justice Chauhan’s attention to a parliamentary committee report and a Niti Aayog report which focused on poll expenditure and the “policy paralysis” due to the model code of conduct. “Neither of the reports has attempted to explore any other solution to these problems apart from simultaneous elections,” the letter read. Taking a dig at the BJP for its campaigns in various states, he slammed the reasoning given for “policy paralysis” saying, “..it is the insistence of national party leaders to participate and campaign in various state and local elections that causes policy paralysis and not the MCC.”

The AIMIM supremo also pointed out that simultaneous elections, if held, would be an interference in a state government’s functioning. LCI’s recommendations would modify the tenure of the legislature and make it reliant on the tenure of other states or Centre. “It would also implicitly increase the use of Article 356 in cases where a government loses majority in the House.”

Under Article 356 of the Constitution, if a state government is unable to function according to constitutional provisions, the central government can take direct control of the state machinery. 
On June 14 the LCI invited political parties to New Delhi on July 7 or July 8 to have a discussion on the matter.

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