Plan to implement simultaneous polls within current tenure: Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the BJP-led NDA government will implement the 'one nation, one election' within its current tenure.

Addressing a press conference here to mark the 100 days of the third consecutive term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah said, "We plan to implement one nation one poll within the tenure of this government.

Shah was flanked by I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the press conference.

In his Independence Day address last month, the prime minister made a strong pitch for 'one nation, one election', contending that frequent polls were creating hurdles in the country's progress.

"The nation has to come forward for 'one nation, one election'," Modi had said in his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

One nation, one election' is one of the key promises made by the BJP in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.

A high-level panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind in March this year recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.

Separately, the Law Commission is likely to recommend holding simultaneous polls for all three tiers of government -- Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies like municipalities and panchayats -- starting in 2029 and a provision for a unity government in cases such as a hung house or when a no-confidence motion is passed.

The Kovind panel has not specified any period for rolling out simultaneous polls.

It has proposed creation of an 'Implementation Group' to look into the execution of the panel's recommendations.

The panel recommended as many as 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by the state assemblies.

However, these would require certain Constitution amendment bills that would need to be passed by Parliament.