Cong dismantled simultaneous polls to retain power : Anil Antony

BJP leader Anil K Antony on Sunday launched a pointed attack on the Congress party, accusing it of derailing India's once-successful system of simultaneous elections for political gain.

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Supporting the Centre’s push for the “One Nation, One Election” initiative, he said the practice functioned smoothly until it was disrupted by the Congress government under Indira Gandhi after 1967.

“From 1951 to 1967, India conducted Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections together, ensuring stability and good governance,” Antony said at a policy forum here. “But this changed when Mrs Indira Gandhi came to power. In the following three years, several non-Congress governments were dismissed, and political manipulation led to the collapse of the synchronised election cycle. By the late 1970s, the system had been completely derailed.”

Calling this disruption a "self-serving move" by the Congress to retain power, Antony argued that decades of disjointed elections have since burdened the country with administrative delays, fiscal strain, and reduced governance efficiency.