New Delhi: On Sunday, the BJP blasted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his "parochial" stance in denouncing the idea of simultaneous elections, noting that the country had held Lok Sabha and Assembly polls simultaneously until 1967 and that the question of simultaneous elections was argued when Indira Gandhi was prime minister as well.
In 1982, when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was in office, there was "serious consideration" of returning to the system (simultaneous polling) our founding fathers had envisioned. "Since then, India's Law Commissions, Election Commission, and Parliamentary Committees have looked into and pushed for this idea," Amit Malviya, head of the BJP's information technology department, said on X.
He argued that Rahul Gandhi should be informed that simultaneous elections were first held in India in 1952 and lasted until 1967.—Inputs from Agencies