Frequent polls obstruct progress, support PM Modi on 'one nation, one election': Chouhan

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday urged the people of Chhattisgarh to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'one nation, one election', saying that frequent polls hinder the country's progress.

The Union agriculture minister was addressing a function of the state government, 'Mor Awas Mor Adhikar', in Nagpura village, to allocate houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

"In our country, anything else may or may not happen, but preparations for elections take place for five years, 12 months and 365 days. A year ago, elections were held in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, followed by the Lok Sabha polls. Subsequently, elections took place in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, and Jharkhand. Now Delhi's 'dangal' has come, and after that, the Bihar elections will be held. These frequent elections are obstacles to the country's growth," he said.

Chouhan, a senior BJP leader, pointed out that all development works come to a halt when the model code of conduct comes into force for the elections.

He said, "Money from the government and political parties is unnecessarily spent. Even politicians are engaged in poll work. Due to frequent elections, leaders are scared of making decisions that have benefit in the long term eyeing votes."

Lok Sabha and assembly elections should be held simultaneously once every five years so that governments can serve people for four-and-a-half years without interruptions, he said.

The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill were introduced in the Lok Sabha during the recent Winter Session and referred to the 39-member joint committee of Parliament with members from all major parties.

The parliamentary panel constituted to scrutinise the two bills on simultaneous elections held its first meeting earlier this week.

Pointing to the gathering, Chouhan asked, "Do you think it should happen? Do you support PM Modi's proposal? Today, Chhattisgarh will take the pledge that Lok Sabha and assembly elections should take place together once in five years."

The union minister also targeted the previous Congress government in Chhattisgarh, accusing it of snatching the houses of poor people under PM Awas Yojna.

"The previous (Congress) government committed the biggest sin by snatching the houses of the poor. Modi ji had promised to give rights of houses to people (during the previous Chhattisgarh assembly elections). Modi's guarantee is a guarantee of fulfilling the guarantees. I have come here to fulfil the same. The Vishnu Deo Sai government, in its first cabinet meeting, had more than 18 lakh houses under the scheme," he said.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai was also present in the programme.