Aurangabad: Putting an end to all speculations, chief election commissioner O P Rawat on Thursday emphatically ruled out the possibility of holding simultaneous elections to the state assemblies along with the Lok Sabha polls without a "legal framework" in place.
"Koi chance nahi (no chance at all),” Rawat told a select media meet in Aurangabad when asked if it was still feasible to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections.
The Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May next year while assembly polls to Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram are scheduled to be held later this year.
The National Law Commission mooted the proposal in 1999. However, none vouched for it then. When Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre in May 2014, he asked the parliamentary committee to submit its report on the proposed reform. President Ram Nath Kovind also endorsed the idea earlier this year. However, apart from the BJP, all other major political parties are averse to the idea.
Besides NDA constituent Shiromani Akali Dal, the AIADMK, the Samajwadi Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti have supported it.
The Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, the DMK, the Telugu Desam Party, the Left parties and the JD(S) have opposed the proposal.
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