The master stroke given by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre by proposing “one nation-one poll” plan is expected to land Telangana chief minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao in deep soup.
On Friday, the Modi government appointed a committee headed by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind to study the nitty-gritty of holding the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and all the state assemblies across the country.
If everything works out well, the Centre might introduce a Constitutional amendment bill in parliament in the special session of Parliament to be held for a week, starting September 18. The committee is expected to submit a report by then.
It requires three-fourths majority in the Parliament to pass the bill and since many parties are in favour of the simultaneous polls, it may not be difficult to amend the constitution to that effect.
Later, it also needs the ratification by at least 50 percent of the states, which is easy for the Centre, as the NDA is ruling majority of the states. But the entire process would take five to six months.
If the bill is passed, then the elections for five states – Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram, scheduled this year end may not take place and they would be held along with other states sometime in April.
It that happens, the Centre would have to promulgate Presidents’ Rule in these states till the simultaneous elections are held for all the states and Parliament. The states would have absolutely no control over the administration till then.
For KCR, it would be a big disadvantage, as he won’t have any say in the administration during the elections, as it would be under the control of the Centre till the election schedule is announced. Later, it will go under the control of the Election Commission.
That would mean KCR will lose the advantage and his party would be like any other party contesting the elections. In such a scenario, it will be a difficult task for him to come to power!
