Moving into new House, AP backs simultaneous polls for state, Centre

Governor E S L Narasimhan articulated the state’s stand while addressing the joint session of the AP Legislative Council and the Assembly on the opening day of the Budget session in the new Legislature building in Amaravati. 

“My government is in full agreement with the view that elections to both state assemblies and Lok Sabha be held simultaneously so that Centre and state governments could pay their undivided attention to issues of policy and governance. We will go a step further and suggest that elections to urban and rural local bodies too should be held within one year of the elections to the state and Central legislatives,” the Governor said. 

“Historically, elections to state assemblies and Lok Sabha began together but over the years, for varied reasons, they were de-coupled. Now the situation has come to a stage that we conduct elections in significantly large parts of the country almost every year, if not throughout the year. Political parties, and therefore governments, have to continually keep an eye on electoral calculations,” Narasimhan pointed out. 

Simultaneous polls would give governments a “full four years of undistracted” time to address issues of governance, the Governor said, adding “it is desirable” to have a national debate involving all sections of people. Narasimhan further said that no stone was left unturned in the efforts of constructing a world class capital city for the state and explained that 9 theme cities would also come up within Amaravathi. 

A metro train in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam would be a reality soon, he added. A 100kmph high speed suburban train would also come up in Vijayawada. He thanked the Centre for granting the exemption of Capital Gain Tax to the farmers of Amaravathi. Efforts are being made for delimitation, which would pave way for increase of MLA seats from 175 to 225, he concluded.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh on Monday filed his nomination for election to state Legislative Council under MLAs’ quota. The election is scheduled to be held on March 20. AP govt Chief Whip Kalva Srinivasulu proposed Lokesh’s name while Deputy CMs K E Krishna Murthy and N China Rajappa, TDP president K Kala Venkata Rao and others seconded it. Lokesh submitted his papers to Legislature Secretary (in-charge) and RO K Satyanarayana Rao. There has been talk of his possible induction into the state Cabinet.