After Yogi Adityanath, now Akhilesh Yadav echoes PM Modi's idea of 'one nation, one election'

The SP chief also urged his party workers to start preparing for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by connecting with people at the grassroot level.

LUCKNOW: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of 'one nation one election'. 

''We are ready for 'one nation one election'. Start preparations for 2019 polls. We are with you (BJP) on this,'' Akhilesh Yadav said.

We are ready for one nation one election. 2019 se tayiaari kariye hum bhi aapke saath hain is mudde par: Akhilesh Yadav,SP on Yogi Govt backs PM Modi's 'one nation one election' proposal pic.twitter.com/tnhh4DockP — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 6, 2018

The SP leader also urged his party workers to start preparing for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls by connecting with people at the grassroot level.

It is to be noted that incumbent UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has earlier backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'one nation-one election'.

The backing from Yogi Adityanath is significant since the state of Uttar Pradesh sends maximum members to the Lok Sabha. The state government has reportedly drafted a report that says simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections are possible.

Though the Yogi Adityanath government has almost four years to go, the report indicates that the state is ready for elections in 2019. 

Seventeen of the 30 states can vote for their assemblies along with the mother of all battles, according to UP Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, who authored the report.

After submitting the report to the Chief Minister, Singh had made a strong sales pitch for the proposition. 

The BJP emerged as the single largest party but lost the opportunity to form government in Karnataka to Congress. It now faces serious anti-incumbency in the next round of elections due in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh later this year, a little ahead of the 2019 battle.

Adityanath, under whose watch the BJP lost the Gorakhpur seat- which he had won several times - and two more, had constituted a seven-member committee to "probe the possibility of simultaneous polls".

The Opposition, However, is sceptical of PM Modi pushing the idea of 'one nation one poll'. BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav is reported to have written a letter to CMs of the states ruled by the party and its allies to "build consensus on the issue".

The Opposition fears that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, which rules 21 odd states, may pass state-level resolutions to build a "mood of the nation template" in favour of simultaneous polls much before a push for a legislation to amend the Constitution.

Opposition parties are viewing this with suspicion also because of the current political situation. There is an attempt to unite the Opposition against the mighty BJP to stop the Modi juggernaut. If states vote along with Lok Sabha elections, most regional players will get trapped in their own states and wouldn't have the time to present shows of unity in other regions.