Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Friday passed
a non-official resolution asking the Centre to hold Lok Sabha
and Assembly elections simultaneously across the country for
ensuring transparency and mark a new beginning in politics.
The non-official resolution was moved by Brijmohan
Dhoot of BJP.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that frequent
elections hamper development work and formation of long-term
policies due to enforcement of Model Code of Conduct.
Earlier, when polls were held simultaneously, nearly
four-and-a-half year could be devoted to development and
people's welfare, Chouhan said.
He asked the Centre to amend the constitution for making
five-year term mandatory for the Lok Sabha and the State
Assemblies and cited the example of Bihar where once newly
elected members were unable to take oath and fresh polls were
announced because of political impasse.
Chouhan noted that contesting polls is an expensive
affair and only handful of people are able to manage funds on
their own.
The Chief Minister said that due to rising poll expenses
and unrealistic ceiling imposed by the poll body, contestants
have to seek donations which leads to the possibility of using
blackmoney and making "invisible" expenses.
He said that the Centre can fund the polls from its
annual budget. If the elections are held once in five years,
then it might have to spend around Rs 10,000-15,000 crore on
it. The Election Commission can monitor the process.
Govind Singh (Congress), Madan Kushwaha (BSP) and Laxman
Tiwari (Bhartiya Janshakti) also expressed their views
on the resolution following which the resolution was adopted
unanimously.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 00:08