In a resounding show of disapproval, leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) voiced their opposition to the concept of One Nation One Election during separate meetings with the committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday.
The high level committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, engaged in discussions with representatives from the three parties, including, TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member Nilotpal Basu and Central Secretariat member Muralidharan, and Samajwadi Party leaders K.K. Srivastava and Harish Chandra Yadav on Tuesday. The leaders expressed concerns that simultaneous elections would violate the Constitution by either truncating or extending the terms of legislatures and potentially paving the way for a presidential-style government in the future.
Speaking to media, following the meeting, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury informed, he has firmly conveyed the party’s stance. He said, “One Nation One Election runs contrary to the spirit of our Constitution. It is anti-democratic and anti-federalism because what is proposed is to either shorten the term of the state legislatures or to lengthen it. Either of them is anti-democratic. It’s not based on people’s mandate.”
Yechury underscored the constitutional obstacles to implementing simultaneous elections, citing the need for amendments to at least four articles of the Constitution. He also raised the pertinent question of whether Article 356, which empowers the President to impose President’s rule in a state, would be amended, a query met with uncertainty from the committee.
“We asked the committee are they willing to recommend that 356 be scrapped. Naturally, they can’t answer. If you have the right for the central government to dismiss an elected-state government, what is the simultaneous elections you are talking about,” he added.
Further, the TMC delegation informed they reiterated their party’s objections on simultaneous elections conveyed earlier in a letter on 11th January 2024. Mamata Banerjee, through a letter conveyed earlier, labeled the proposal as a threat to the Constitution’s basic structure. “There is a hidden agenda to form a dictatorial, presidential form of government in the future. The Constitution says people will choose their Union and state governments for five years. These two Articles are the basic structure of the Constitution. These powers of the Constitution and the power of the people cannot be curtailed,” Kalyan Banerjee said after the meeting.
Samajwadi Party represented by K.K.Shrivastava and Harishchandra Singh Yadav apprised the committee about their party’s stand on holding of simultaneous elections in the country. The Party had earlier submitted their written submission to the Committee.
Speaking to media, Shrivastava said, “We conveyed to the committee that the Samajwadi Party is against simultaneous elections. After Independence when elections were held simultaneously, there were hardly any regional parties. Today, there are many regional parties that are in power in the states or are the principal Opposition.”
It is pertinent to note that the committee’s outreach to national and state parties, initiated in October 2023, sought input on the One Nation One Election proposal. The committee has given a deadline of three months to the parties to conveytheir perspectives. Subsequently, over the past three weeks, former President Kovind and the committee have engaged in consultations with a wide array of stakeholders. These engagements have included meetings with political parties, former Chief Election Commissioners, retired Chief Justices, and representatives from industry bodies.
