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Asaduddin opposes same-day polls to Lok Sabha & Assemblies, writes to Law Commission chief

Hyderabad: AIMIM party supremo and Hyderbad MP Asaduddin Owaisi today totally opposed the Law Commission’s proposal for holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

Responding to Law Commission’s letter of June 14 that it seeks to consult political parties and other stakeholders prior to making its final recommendations on the issue of holding simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, the AIMIM chief said the report (prepared by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law & Justice) had recommended a piecemeal approach to achieving a concurrent national election time-table. The AIMIM, in its consultation with the Committee, had opposed any attempt at prioritizing “stability” over the Constitutional mandate for periodic and consistent elections.

The issue of simultaneous elections is a “solution in search of a problem”. It must be noted that no attempts have been made so far to analyze if there is a need for simultaneous elections. Instead certain logistic difficulties like expenditure involved in holding elections are framed as sufficient enough reason to wholesale amendment to the basic structure of the Constitution. “Instead, I would like to emphasise that constitutional principles of collective responsibility and legislative oversight of the executive cannot be sacrificed at the altar of “efficiency” and “stability” it is not possible to privilege convenience over constitutional guarantees.

Moreover, the parliamentary democracy and federalism are part of the basic structure of the Constitution. These features of the Constitution cannot be amended away from the legislature under any circumstances, let alone for the sake of saving public expenditure. Moreover, it is unclear that nay significant public interest is served by conducting simultaneous elections”, he added. (NSS)