By IANS
New Delhi : Enthused by the victories in assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suggested that all assembly polls should be held simultaneously. Ten states go to polls this year.
“Our national president Rajnath Singh has proposed that all parties and the Election Commission should explore options of holding assembly elections in states simultaneously,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here Sunday.
Singh made this proposal in his presidential address to the BJP national executive meeting Sunday.
Prasad said: “Since he (Singh) took over as national president of the party, he has seen eight assembly elections in quick succession in different states. This year we are going to have polls in 10 states.”
Singh said: “Repeated involvement in elections have left no time for the national political parties to engage themselves in political-social and constructive works… In such a situation while expenditure increases, much of the time is also spent in elections.”
As the BJP president tried to justify his suggestion for simultaneous elections, party leaders said this was one more indication of the upbeat mood in the organisation.
“Frequent elections became a reality nearly two decades ago when coalition politics became a norm. But the demand is being made now. This is because we are on a winning spree,” said a senior party leader.
After victories in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in December, the BJP is hopeful of winning in Karnataka, where polls are due by May.
“While on the one hand, the BJP wants to win new states, it also wants to retain power in the states where it is in power,” Prasad said.
The poll dates for three northeastern states of Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya have already been scheduled for February and March.
Other states to go to polls this year are Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Mizoram. Of these, BJP is in power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is making all efforts to fight anti-incumbency. It is hopeful of coming to power in Delhi after being in the opposition for two terms.
“Since a perception has been built that we are coming to power (at the national level), it suits the party if elections are held simultaneously at least in the remaining seven states – where polls are few months away – so that we can cash in on our recent victories,” said a BJP leader.