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Rahul Gandhi break silence on ‘one nation, one election’, says ‘an attack on all states’

2023-09-09 00:00:00.0 铸币报-政治原网页

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday broke his silence on ‘one nation, one election’ debate saying the that idea of it is an ‘attack on the Indian Union and all states’

The Centre on Friday announced that it is exploring options around ‘one nation, one election’. It also formed an committee under Ram Nath Kovind to explore its feasibility and analyze whether it is possible to conduct the Lok Sabha polls with a string of state assembly contests.

Protesting against the concept, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Sunday, ‘INDIA, that is Bharat, is a Union of States.’

The idea of ‘one nation, one election’ is an attack on the Indian Union and all its States, he adds.

The high-level committee includes Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Ahir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, Senior Advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari.

However, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary on Saturday wrote to Home Minister Shah refusing to be a part of the committee.

"The sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about the ulterior motives of the government", the letter read.

Assembly polls are due in five states- Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Rajasthan- in November-December and they are scheduled to be followed by the Lok Sabha elections in May-June next year. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh assemblies are scheduled to go to the polls with the Lok Sabha elections.

It is to be noted here, simultaneous elections for the state assemblies and the Lok Sabha were held till 1967. However, in 1968 and 1969 some legislative assemblies were dissolved prematurely followed by the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 1970. This forced a change in electoral schedules for the states and the country.