A day after Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief Amit Shah wrote to the Law Commision favouring the idea of ‘One nation, One Poll’, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat informed that if the government is in favour of holding assembly elections in 11 states along with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, then more VVPAT machines have to be ordered within one or two months, reported News18.
The CEC explained that there are not enough Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail(VVPAT) machines to conduct State Assembly elections together with the 2019 general elections.
Rawat said, “There aren’t enough VVPAT machines to conduct 11 state polls simultaneously with Lok Sabha elections in 2019. More VVPAT machines will have to be ordered and a decision in this regard will have to be taken in a month or two if such a thing is to be attempted.”
SK Mendiratta, EC’s legal veteran had told News18 the same thing in an interview. “With present EVM and VVPAT machines, simultaneous polls cannot be held and it would take at least three years for the commission to procure a required number of machines,”Mendiratta told News18.
There are speculations that BJP is mulling over holding elections in 11 BJP-ruled states simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
Elections are to be held later in 2019 in three states– Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. Bihar is scheduled for elections in 2020 end. The state is currently governed by Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) where BJP is an ally. There are rumours that BJP might push the elections ahead in these states so that they can be conducted simultaneously with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
PTI has quoted anonymous BJP leader who confirmed that to conduct simultaneous polls, BJP might delay elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh which have elections later this year, and put Governor’s rule in these three states, reported Economic Times.
The other states which might have elections along with Lok Sabha polls are Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Mizoram. BJP has decided to summon an all-party meeting to discuss the issue, reported News18.