On Wednesday, 17th September several opposition parties attacked the government over the Union Cabinet’s approval of the One Nation One Election, which aims to hold simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, calling it a “political stunt” and claiming that the move will become a flop.
The One Nation One Election idea received approval after the report of the high-level committee, led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, was presented to the Union Cabinet earlier today and was accepted by the cabinet.
Congress said that it is opposed to the proposal of ‘One Nation, One Election’ and that elections need to be held as and when required for democracy to survive. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said that ‘One Nation, One Election’ cannot work in a democracy.
“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,” he said. Congress leader KC Venugopal also said that the proposal was not practical. “It is not practical in this country. They want to divert attention from present issues,” he said.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has further fiercely criticized the ‘one nation, one election’ idea approved by the Union Cabinet claiming it undermines federalism and jeopardizes democracy. Responding to the Union Cabinet’s decision, the Hyderabad MP stated that he has long opposed ‘one nation, one election’ since it is a solution in search of a problem.
“It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Multiple elections are not a problem for anyone except Modi and Shah. Just because they have a compulsive need to campaign in even municipal and local body elections does not mean that we need simultaneous polls,” Asaduddin Owaisi posted on X.
I have consistently opposed #OneNationOneElections because it is a solution in search of a problem. It destroys federalism and compromises democracy, which are part of the basic structure of the constitution.
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 18, 2024
Multiple elections aren’t a problem for anyone except Modi & Shah.…
Derek O’Brien, a senior Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP, slammed the proposal as a ‘jumla’ (empty promise) by the BJP. “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 and Kashmir? Here’s why. 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 will reach beneficiaries in October,” he said.
“You can’t do three states in one go and you talk about One Nation One Election. And also tell us, how many constitutional amendments, including curtailing or extending terms of state assemblies, will be done,” he added. The TMC MP also shared a letter by Mamata Banerjee sent to the center in this matter which read that the policy proposed by the dramatic and sensational.
News of a Cabinet decision on One Nation One Election.
— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) September 18, 2024
Here is the letter written by @MamataOfficial in January this year👇on the subject pic.twitter.com/97MLDeJCep
Manoj Jha, a Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, and Rajya Sabha MP, stated that simultaneous elections were previously held in India and there was a reason it was stopped. “How will that be changed now? Elections will be held together in Lok Sabha and states… say no government can be formed in a state like Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh, will there be a proxy government with governor’s rule or President’s rule till the next election or will a fresh election be called for such states. If there is a fresh election, then the link breaks,” Jha said.
He continued, “Most importantly after the BJP was reduced to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, we thought PM Modi would speak about issues related to employment. This is a diversionary tactic, nothing else.”
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Manoj Yadav further pondered what good ‘One Nation, One Election’ would do. “All of BJP’s policies are brought only to financially strengthen their party leaders and business. They have no intention of doing anything for the common people,” he said.
VIDEO | "This government brought 'one nation, one tax', demonetisation claiming that these policies would improve the economy…they want to bring 'one nation, one election' also to save money and time… but I want to ask the economists of the country, whether the 'one nation,… pic.twitter.com/tuT16raxuK
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 18, 2024
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the committee headed by former president in preparing the report, saying that his cabinet has accepted the recommendations. PM Modi tweeted, “The Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. I compliment our former President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders.”
The Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections. I compliment our former President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for spearheading this effort and consulting a wide range of stakeholders.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 18, 2024
This is an important step towards making our…
He added that “This is an important step towards making our democracy even more vibrant and participative.”
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 percent of respondents who responded during the consultation process have given their positive support, especially the youth, they are very much in favor of this,” Vaishnaw said.
#WATCH | On Mallikarjun Kharge's remark calling 'One Nation One Election' as "impractical", Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says, "The opposition might start feeling internal pressure (about One Nation One Election) as more than 80% of respondents who responded during consultant… pic.twitter.com/1VPoq7f6aI
— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2024
BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi also commented on the issue and said, “We had ‘one nation, one election’ in our manifesto, and talks were held on this earlier also. If you see, elections in 1952, 1957, 1962, and 1967 were conducted in this ‘one nation, one election’ format only. We also know that many governments have been toppled by exploiting Article 56. Other than that, a lot of money is spent on elections and a lot of government officials are employed in the election duties.”
VIDEO | "We had 'one nation, one election' in our manifesto and talks were held on this earlier also. If you see, elections in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967 were conducted in this 'one nation, one election' format only. We also know that many governments have been toppled by… pic.twitter.com/5RuolctxHW
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 18, 2024
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “As a citizen, I’m really happy with this decision, which was only possible under PM Modi’s leadership. I’ve also been part of his Cabinet. These regular elections created a hindrance to the country’s development and no party wanted to take long-term decisions and everyone was always busy with elections.”
VIDEO | "As a citizen, I'm really happy with this decision, which was only possible under PM Modi's leadership. I've also been part of his Cabinet. These regular elections created a hindrance for country's development and no party wanted to take long-term decisions and everyone… pic.twitter.com/B1Ua030z7H
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 18, 2024
Several other leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, etc also hailed the move.
The Union Cabinet approved on Wednesday the plan to hold simultaneous elections in the country, as suggested by a high-level committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The committee had advised that the government implement a one-time temporary measure that would require the Union government to set a date soon following a Lok Sabha election.
The government said that the Report, comprising 18,626 pages, is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on September 2, 2023.
