Delegations from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday held separate meetings with the former president Ram Nath Kovind-led high-level committee formed to explore the feasibility of simultaneous elections in the country and put forth their views on the issue.
A delegation from Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) also met the panel — High Level Committee (HLC) on One Nation, One Election — and supported the idea of simultaneous polls.
For the TMC, which is the ruling party in West Bengal, senior leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kalyan Banerjee met the HLC and reiterated their party’s objection to the idea of holding simultaneous polls, alleging the move has a “hidden agenda” to turn India into a “dictatorship”.
“We appeared before the committee headed by the former president. We referred to the letter written by our leader Mamata Banerjee. We have said very categorically that we are opposing the idea of ‘One Nation, One Election’. There is a hidden agenda to form a dictatorship government in future,” Banerjee told reporters after the meeting.
He alleged that the idea, if implemented, would “interfere” with the “federal structure” of the country.
{{/usCountry}}He alleged that the idea, if implemented, would “interfere” with the “federal structure” of the country.
{{/usCountry}}“Let’s assume that a state government has fallen. That’s happening now everywhere. In that case, would that state government continue or for the rest of the period president’s rule will be imposed? In that case people’s choice will be compromised,” Banerjee added.
TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was supposed to attend the meeting, cancelled her trip to Delhi at the last moment on Monday.
A three-member CPI(M) delegation, comprising general secretary Sitaram Yechury, politburo member Nilotpal Basu and central secretariat member Muralidharan, also met the HLC and registered their objection to the idea of holding state assembly and Lok Sabha polls simultaneously.
Asserting that he “totally disagreed” with the panel, Yechury said: “One nation, one election runs contrary to the spirit of our Constitution. It’s anti-democratic and anti-federalism. When a government loses its majority on the floor of the House, then its continuation is completely undemocratic. The proposal is either to shorten the term of the state legislature or to lengthen...either of this is anti-democratic and not based on people’s choices.”
A Samajwadi Party delegation of KK Shrivastava and Harishchandra Singh Yadav also met the panel led by Kovind and apprised it of the party’s stand on the issue.
The SP, which is the principal opposition party in Uttar Pradesh, had already submitted its view in writing to the HLC, calling the idea “anti-constitutional” and a “malicious attempt to establish monarchy”.
Meanwhile, a delegation from FICCI also met the HLC and made a presentation on simultaneous polls, supporting the idea. The trade body suggested that savings of expenditure from holding simultaneous elections in the country can be utilised for government spending to further promote economic growth and livelihood generation.
“Their presentation showed how multiple elections at various levels adversely impacts the ease of doing business and leads to a slowing down in decision making,” a senior official familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity.