New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday hinted that 'One Nation One Poll' is not going to happen any time soon. The announcement was made by the Chief Election Commisioner Sunil Arora while he was speaking to journalists during the press conference in which he announced the dates for assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra.
To a question about whether the country was any nearer to the idea of 'One Nation One Polls', which has been repeatedly promoted by the Prime Minister, the CEC said that the debate on the subject hadn't been settled yet.
Elaborating further on his response, the CEC said, "Unless there is consensus among the parties it can't be taken as given."
'One Nation One Poll' or simultaneous polls has been the preferred theme of the top BJP leadership. It first found mention in BJP's 2014 manifesto and later was voiced by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP party president Amit Shah.
In June, shortly after assuming the PM's chair for the second time, Narendra Modi invited all parties to hold a discussions on the idea. Modi had floated the idea during his previous term as well. But then it had run into rough weather following its criticism by former election commissioners.
Former election commissioners, such as TS Krishnamurthy, are of the opinion that a lot of administrative arrangements, including increasing the strength of paramilitary forces for poll duties, might be required for holding simultaneous. Krishnamurthy has also said that idea has several advantages but it would not be possible without the necessary constitutional amendments.
The then Chief Election Commissioner, OP Rawat, had in August last year had also talked about the need to make constitutional amendments in order to implement the idea but when asked if it was likely to implemented in near future, he had said, "Koi chance nahi [no chance at all]."
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