New Delhi: A day after government sources said ‘one nation, one election’ will be implemented in the current term of the NDA government, the TMC called it another “gimmick” of the ruling party.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) questioned why the Maharashtra elections were not announced along with the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.
“One nation, one election’ is just another gimmick from the anti-democratic BJP,” TMC Parliamentary Party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien said.
“Why were the Maharashtra elections not announced along with elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir? Here’s why,” he said.
Answering the question himself, he said the Maharashtra government announced the Ladki Bahin scheme in the budget this June. The first tranche reached the bank accounts of women in August and the second tranche is likely to reach the beneficiaries in mid-October, he added.
Communist Part of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja also said his party does not support the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal.
“Our party, the CPI, is not in favour of ‘one nation one election’. In fact, I met the former president who was heading the committee,” he said.
Raja said India is a diverse country and elections are held to Parliament and the state legislative assemblies. The Constitution makes clear the tenure of Lok Sabha, state assembly, the powers of elected chief ministers and governments in the states, he said.
The Union government cannot snatch all powers from the state governments, he said, adding this issue was discussed in the Constituent Assembly and things are very clear.
The CPI leader said the Election Commission is a permanent commission which draws all its powers from the Constitution. It has the mandate to hold free and fair elections, he added.
Raja said the ‘one nation, one election’ cannot be implemented in the country. The government should ensure level-playing field, he added.
Listing a couple of situations, he said any state government can be defeated on the floor of the House through a no-confidence motion or the elected chief minister can recommend the dissolution of assembly on the advice of cabinet. He asked their consequences and said there are many constitutional and practical questions.
The Congress said the idea of ‘one nation, one election’ was not pragmatic and wondered how long the government would survive by “releasing hot air balloons” to test the waters.
The opposition party asserted that there was no draft proposal of ‘one nation, one election’ and the government had made no attempt to speak to it.
The BJP-led NDA government will implement ‘one nation, one election’ within its current tenure, sources said on Sunday, exuding confidence that the reform measure would receive support across party lines.
As the third term of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes 100 days in office, the sources said the cohesion within the ruling alliance would continue for the rest of the tenure.
Asked about the reports on ‘one nation, one election’ being implemented during the government’s current tenure, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “You quoted government sources, here I am the official spokesperson of the Congress party laying threadbare the many failures of the Modi government. How long is this government going to survive by leaking selective information?”
“How long is this government going to survive by turning a blind eye to real and actual problems of this nation? How long is this government going to survive by planting information, by releasing these hot air balloons to test the waters? The reality is that there is no draft, the reality is that there has been no discussion, the reality is that there are assemblies in progress, the reality is that the government has made no attempt to speak to us,” she said at a press conference.
“It is absolutely not pragmatic to do this but the government has to have a conversation. So these sources-based information, that is what this government has survived on, leak sources-based information, run (it) in news channels, do reportage through WhatsApp, this nonsense must stop but that is what continues and that has continued in the last 100 days,” Shrinate said.
‘One nation, one election’ was one of the key promises made by the BJP in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.
A high-level panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind in March recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step, followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.
Separately, the Law Commission is likely to recommend holding simultaneous polls for all three tiers of government — Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies such as municipalities and panchayats — starting with 2029 and a provision for unity government in cases of a hung House or no-confidence motions.
The Kovind panel has not specified any period for rolling out simultaneous polls.
It has proposed the creation of an ‘implementation group’ to look into the execution of the panel’s recommendations.
The panel recommended as many as 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by the state assemblies.
However, these would require certain Constitution amendment bills that would need to be passed by Parliament.
