Venkaiah Naidu supports simultaneous elections, says frequent polls will impede progress

M. Venkaiah Naidu supports simultaneous elections for Parliament and State Assemblies to ease financial burden and promote progress. He favours 'one-nation, one-election' principle and believes meaningful debate should be held on renaming India as Bharat. He also calls for amendments to Anti-Defection Law and passage of women's reservation bill.

Former Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu has strongly supported simultaneous elections for Parliament and State Assembles as “frequent polls will become an impediment for the country’s progress”. Simultaneous elections will also help ease the financial burden on the exchequer, he said.

In an informal chat here on Wednesday, he said that there was nothing wrong in using the name ‘Bharat’ instead of India as the country has been known by that name since time immemorial. Mr. Naidu however, opined that there should be a meaningful and thorough debate on the subject.

He said that he preferred the principle of ‘one-nation, one-election’ in view of the recommendations made by the Election Commission, Law Commission and Parliamentary standing committee, as also the cost saving factor. There used to be simultaneous elections to both Parliament and State Assemblies till 1971, but the practice ended due to various reasons, he said.

He said that there was no need for unnecessary controversies in a democracy where there were bound to be differences. “But, we must evolve into a consensus after thorough debate and move on,” he said, adding that frequent elections would mean that the governments of the day would not be able to take firm decisions in the larger interests of people. “I personally feel that we must go by the principle of ‘one-nation, one-election’,” he said.

On renaming the country as Bharat, he said that the Constitution made mention that “India, that is Bharat”. “There was much debate in the Constituent Assembly on the issue and the two (India and Bharat) are interchangeable”, he said. “The word India came into parlance as it was named so by foreigners”.

On the defection of elected representatives from one party to another, he favoured necessary amendments to the Anti-Defection Law for addressing the issue. Asked about the passage of the long-pending women’s reservation bill, he said it had been long overdue and there should be an early conclusion to the issue.