Dissolve Lok Sabha to hold simultaneous polls with states, Congress tells Modi
New Delhi, Aug 14 : The Congress on Tuesday said the Lok Sabha should be dissolved and Assembly elections advanced in some other states if simultaneous polls are to be held.
"Simultaneous elections are not possible without amendment in the Constitution. There is only one way to have the elections together and that is Modiji should dissolve Lok Sabha to advance general elections. We would welcome it," senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said.
His comments come against the backdrop of reports that the government was considering holding Lok Sabha polls early next year along with Assembly elections in 11 states by advancing polls in some states and deferring in some.
"If they bring it in advance by dissolving the Lok Sabha, we are prepared to fight both Lok Sabha and assembly elections at a time," Gehlot said.
He said that the government was not "serious and honest about doing it" and only wanted to score political mileage out of it.
"They are just projecting that they are so concerned about the nation and that the expenses incurred on elections are so high. They only play politics out of it," he said.
Vivek Tankha, a Rajya Sabha member who was part of the delegation heded by Ghelot to the Election Commission to complain about anomalies in the electoral rolls in Rajasthan, said for extending the term of state assemblies, Constitutional amendments would be required.
He also said if the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to postpone elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it would move the court.
A Supreme Court lawyer, Tankha said that his party suspected that the government was trying to defer elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where the surveys are projecting the ruling BJP to be losing.
"It is not about the Congress. Three states where BJP is in power are going to polls. May be the surveys that are coming suggest that BJP is not winning there. So it is in their interest to postpone elections in these states," Tankha said.
"In the three states, the schedule for election has to come before the term comes to an end. We are confident that we are going to win these three states. So, if there is any attempt to postpone elections in these states, of course we will go to court," he added.
Tankha said that in the Indian parliamentary democracy, although the tenures of legislatures are specified, governments can fall at any point of time.
"So, there will never be one date for all governments to have a common election," he said.
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TN polls: TVK pushes DMK behind with leads in 83 seats, AIADMK ahead in 54
Chennai (PTI): New entrant TVK, led by actor-politician Vijay, was leading in as many as 83 constituencies on Monday when counting of votes polled in the April 23 Assembly polls was on across Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK was leading in 58 seats while the ruling DMK was ahead in 34, EC data showed.
About two hours after the postal ballots were counted and EVMs opened for multi-round counting, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam surged ahead of its Dravidian rivals-- the DMK and the AIADMK, with the ruling party struggling to catch up.
If the trends maintain, Vijay could as well ensure the biggest electoral upset, something in lines with the "1967,1977" wins he had referred to in his campaign speeches.
While the Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai brought the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu post-independence in 1967, the charismatic MG Ramachandran (MGR) installed the maiden AIADMK government 10 years later, unseating then DMK government under M Karunanidhi. TVK was leading in most Chennai segments, all considered DMK strongholds and currently represented by the party in the 234-member House.
A poor show by DMK could belie most exit polls giving an edge to it, riding on the number of populist measures Chief Minister M K Stalin had implemented in his five year "Dravidian model," inclusive governance.
According to EC and TV reports, 15 cabinet ministers, including Stalin were trailing. His son and deputy CM Udhayanidhi was also behind in his incumbent Chepauk-Tirvuvallikeni seat, according to a number of reports.
Stalin was trailing behind TVK's VS Babu by 1234 votes in Kolathur segment. Vijay was ahead in Tiruchirappalli East by over 3,000 votes at the end of two rounds of counting, according to EC data.
BJP is trailing in 26 constituencies and it is ahead in Thali segment alone. TVK is ahead in constituencies including Ponneri, Tiruvallur, Poonamalle, and Avadi.
AIADMK is leading in segments including Katpadi, and Guidyattam and party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami is ahead in Edappadi segment by 7003 votes.
DMK was leading in segments including Vellore, Anaikattu and Rishivandiyam.
