Why fear ONOE: Dr Laxman to Kharge

Hyderabad: BJP MP and party OBC Morcha national president Dr K Laxman on Thursday welcomed the Union Cabinet’s decision to conduct Jamili (simultaneous) elections for the parliament and states, followed by the local bodies and questioned the Congress opposing it.

The BJP MP congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet for taking a crucial step and wondered, “why the Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is opposing a decision that the Congress had taken earlier and why it is fearing and hesitant to the Jamili elections.”

He said that simultaneous elections were held in the country from 1951 to 1967. However, it was derailed following former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi going for early elections a year ahead of the election schedule for political reasons. Besides, the indiscriminate use of Article 356 to suspend opposition party governments in the states resulted in disrupting the Jamili elections in the country and hold separate elections for the parliament and the states.

Dr Laxman recalled that the Law Commission in 1999 and the Parliamentary Committee in 2005 have stressed the need for simultaneous elections for Assemblies and Parliament.