BRS senior leader and Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar raised serious concerns over the appointment of a committee to study the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections for both the Assembly and Parliament. He expressed disappointment over the lack of representation from South India in the committee and said the BRS would soon convene a meeting to discuss the latest developments.
In a statement, the former Parliament member criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for convening a special sessions of Parliament for five days, accusing the NDA government of creating uncertainty in the country. He pointed out the absence of discussions on holding simultaneous elections in the last decade, only to be hastily revived.
He recalled that in 2018, the BRS had conveyed
its support for simultaneous polls to the Law Commission but had emphasised the need for thorough discussion. He feared that the committee’s formation might be a mere formality, and a report on simultaneous elections might have already been prepared without consulting the stakeholders.
Vinod Kumar voiced his confusion about the direction in which Prime Minister Modi was taking the country. He questioned why the Narendra Modi government ignored the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and failed to increase the number of members in the Legislative Assemblies of both Telugu States, despite the proposal in the Act. He demanded the BJP government to explain why the Women’s Reservation Bill was not taken up till date and expressed concerns about the BJP government’s approach to upcoming elections.