One Nation One Election: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, as per the Kovind committee’s recommendation. The high-level committee’s report on ‘one nation, one election’ was presented to the Union Cabinet the same day.
The committee, led by ex-president Ram Nath Kovind, had initially submitted its findings in March, just before the Lok Sabha election dates were declared. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the Cabinet’s decision. On the Cabinet nod to One Nation, One Election’, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that it is needed for the development of the country and also to maintain law and order
“PM Narendra Modi was always in favour of one nation one election. Discussions were held with all previous Chief Justices, political leaders, political parties, Chamber of Commerce, and today finally the cabinet has approved the recommendations… One nation one election is needed for the development of the country and also to maintain law and order. Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi should tell whether one nation one election was in place before 1966,” Singh said.
However, the Center’s nod for One Nation One Election received flak from the opposition, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying that ‘One Nation, One Election’ cannot work in a democracy. While responding to queries pertaining to the decision of the Union Cabinet to accept recommendations of the high-level committee on ‘One Nation, One Election,’ he said, “We don’t stand with this. One Nation One Election cannot work in a democracy. Elections need to be held as and when required if we want our democracy to survive”.
Congress leader KC Venugopal said that the proposal is not practical. “It is not practical in this country. They want to divert attention from present issues,” he said.
Responding to a query on Kharge’s remarks, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. who briefed the media on decisions of the union cabinet, said the opposition might start feeling internal pressure. “The opposition might start feeling internal pressure (about One Nation One Election) as more than 80 per cent of respondents who responded during the consultation process have given their positive support, especially the youth, they are very much in favour of this,” Vaishnaw said.
Senior TMC MP Derek O’Brien on Wednesday slammed one nation, one election, dubbing it just “another cheap stunt” of the BJP. His remarks came after the report of the high-level committee on ‘one nation, one election’ was accepted by the Union cabinet.
“One Nation, One Election is just another cheap stunt from the anti-democratic BJP. Why were Maharashtra elections not announced along with elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir? Here’s why. The Maharashtra government announced the Ladki Bahin scheme in the budget this June,” he said in a statement, as quoted by news agency PTI.
On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet accepted recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. The Committee recommends that ‘One Nation, One Election’ be implemented in two phases.
In the first phase: Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to be conducted simultaneously. In the second phase, local body elections (panchayats and municipalities) are to be conducted within 100 days of general elections. There should be a common electoral roll for all elections.
The committee recommends initiating detailed discussions throughout the country and the constitution of an implementation group.
(With ANI, PTI Inputs)
