CEC virtually rules out LS polls with 11 Assemblies
New Delhi, Aug 14 : The BJP's push for "One Nation, One Poll" fuelled a major debate on Tuesday with the Election Commission appearing to rule out simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and 11 assemblies in the near future and the BJP dismissing such a possibility while the Congress said the BJP was planning to delay the elections fearing defeat.
A day after BJP President Amit Shah pushed for simultaneous polls with the Law Commission, Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said: "On the issue of ‘one nation, one poll', the Commission had given inputs and suggestions in 2015 itself. Logistics arrangements with reference to 100 per cent availability of voter verified paper audit trail (VVPATs) will be a constraint."
He also said if the term of some state assembly needed to be curtailed or extended, then a constitutional amendment would be required. Other requirements of additional police force and polling personnel was also needed.
However, he said, the Commission would continue to deliver its responsibility of conducting polls whenever the term of a state assembly ends.
On Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra ruled out any plans of the BJP to hold simultaneous polls and denied that Shah had mooted any proposal to hold elections in 11 states along with Lok Sabha elections of 2019.
"From this table, the BJP rejects any such misconception. Any such misplaced conceptions should not find a place anywhere," he told the media after news reports claimed that the party was planning to hold simultaneous balloting to the Lok Sabha and 11 assemblies by delaying polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where they are due this year end.
"Nowhere has our national President said in this letter that elections to 11 state assemblies be held along with the next Lok Sabha elections. Please read it carefully," Patra said.
"The letter speaks about ‘one nation, one poll' as an idea which should be discussed and debated. Many institutions like the Election Commission and Niti Aayog have expressed positive opinions on this matter and said that consensus should be built on the issue."
However, the Congress smelled a rat in the BJP's pitch for simultaneous polls and warned that it would move the court if the government tried to defer elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
"Simultaneous elections are not possible without an amendment in the Constitution. There is only one way to have the elections together and that is Modiji should dissolve the Lok Sabha to advance general elections. We will welcome it," Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha said his party suspected that the government was trying to defer elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where the surveys were projecting that the ruling BJP was losing.
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Saif Ali Khan’s attacker allegedly let in by house help, Police investigate
Mumbai: Mumbai Police suspect that the attacker who stabbed actor Saif Ali Khan six times during an alleged burglary attempt was let into his Bandra residence by one of his house helps. The house help is currently under scrutiny as police investigate the incident. The 54-year-old actor, who sustained injuries, including one near his spine, has undergone surgery at Lilavati Hospital and is reportedly out of danger.
The attack occurred late at night, and preliminary investigations suggest the assailant may have entered the premises hours earlier and waited for an opportunity to strike. CCTV footage from the residence did not capture any recent entry, strengthening the suspicion that the attacker was assisted by someone inside.
Police reported that the incident began as a scuffle during the burglary attempt. “An unidentified person intruded into the residence of Actor Saif Ali Khan. The actor and the intruder had a scuffle. The actor is injured and is being treated. Investigation is ongoing,” officials said.
The attack has raised questions about security in Mumbai’s high-profile areas. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi criticised the state government, highlighting similar incidents such as the murder of Baba Siddique and the firing outside Salman Khan’s residence. “If celebrities in Bandra are not safe, who in Mumbai is? This is a serious failure of law and order,” she said.
Actor Pooja Bhatt also expressed concerns, urging authorities to address the issue urgently. “Can this lawlessness please be curbed? Bandra has never felt so unsafe before,” she tweeted, tagging Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior officials.
Police are now focused on identifying the attacker, who fled the scene, and examining the possible role of the house help in the incident.
