At CMs' meet, PM to clear air on simultaneous polls

New Delhi: At a meeting with chief ministers of BJP-ruled states on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modis is likely to clear the air about holding simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections later this year.

Mr Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will address the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers on matters related to the organisation.

Though it is a routine meeting that Mr Modi and Mr Shah have been holding since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, Wednesday’s meeting comes at a time when key Assembly polls, including in three BJP-ruled states, are due this year and Lok Sabha polls are scheduled for next year.

While the BJP leaders will be asked about the progress of various Central schemes and pro-poor initiatives, including the National Health Insurance Scheme, the issue of simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections is likely to come up at the meeting.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the media in Bhopal on Monday that the issue of simultaneous elections will be discussed at the CMs’ meeting as part of efforts to build a consensus on the issue. Echoing Mr Modi’s views on the issue, Mr Chouhan said elections should be held simultaneously as otherwise the country is perpetually in election mode.  

Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are the three BJP-ruled states where elections are due by the end of this year. Before these states, Congress-ruled Karnataka also faces Assembly polls, for which the schedule will be announced by the Election Commission in April.

The Prime Minister has on several occasions emphasised the need for simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and this was also highlighted by President Ram Nath Kovind in his address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

Wednesday’s meeting could also see the party top brass taking up the flagship National Health Protection Scheme, which was announced in the Union Budget and is being termed as “Modicare”.

A statement by the BJP said the “pro-poor” policies of the Centre and BJP and NDA-ruled states will be reviewed. It also said the meeting will discuss ways to provide maximum benefits to the poor, farmers, dalits, tribals, youth and women from the policies and programmes of the Central and state governments. The BJP, along with its allies, is in power in 19 states now. The party is also confident of ending the over two-decade-long Left rule in Tripura, which went to the polls earlier this month. The BJP leadership had aggressively campaigned in this northeastern state, whose poll results will be declared on March 3. The results of the Assembly polls in Meghalaya and Nagaland, which took place on Tuesday, will also be declared on March 3.