Simultaneous polls will lead to ‘cheating like hell’: Lyngdoh

‘‘There are certain states which need special attention. in terms of electoral records it is very bad. Obviously we cannot allow everybody to go to polls at the same time. It is not a good situation to have everybody going to polls at the same time. ‘‘We won’t be able to pay attention. They will cheat like hell and we won’t know what to do with that,’’ he said.

In any case, he said, why should any state be oriented towards parliamentary elections. ‘‘There is nothing in democracy which says Parliament is more important than Assembly. They all have same weightage. Why should not Parliament be oriented towards Assembly elections. So it is not democracy. That is it.’’

He said: ‘‘That understanding of democracy any man in the world would be able to appreciate. You don’t have to be a politician to understand it.’’ Asked whether the EC has rejected the proposal outright and would it not formally consider the issue, he said: ‘‘There is no question of our not considering it. As a fact we have to do that.’’

‘‘If they (Government) make constitutional changes, we have to implement them,’’ he said. Asked whether the EC was in a position to hold Lok Sabha polls along with the five Assembly polls this year end, he said: ‘‘There is nothing which is not possible. But it is a question whether it ought to be done.

To a question about the preparedness of the EC to hold a snap Lok Sabha poll, Lyngdoh said: ‘‘We have got the electoral rolls ready. But they have to dissolve Parliament and we have got six months after that. It will not be snap for us.’’