“If We Want Our Democracy To Survive…”: Kharge On ‘One Nation, One Election’

The union cabinet has cleared the central government’s ‘one nation, one election’ submitted by a high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind. As per the scheme, the Lok Sabha and assembly polls will be held simultaneously, followed by urban body and panchayat elections within 100 days.

Opposing the “impractical” scheme, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stated, “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.” The opposition has consistently flagged ‘One Nation, One Election’ as unconstitutional.

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Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to Kharge, stating that the opposition might start to feel internal pressure following the cabinet’s decision.

“The opposition might start feeling internal pressure (about One Nation, One Election) as more than 80% of respondents who responded during consultant process have given their positive support, especially the youth, they are very much in favour of this,” said the BJP leader.

In March this year, the Kovind panel submitted its report of over 18,000 pages compiled over 191 days since the committee was formed on September last year.

Hyderabad MP and AIMIM leader Assaduddin Owaisi also opposed the move and said that the policy of ‘One Nation, One Election’ “destroys federalism and compromises democracy” and that “frequent & periodic elections improve democratic accountability.” He also added that multiple elections are not a “problem for anyone except Modi & Shah.”

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The Modi government, however, believes that the movie will end “policy paralysis” and the “atmosphere of uncertainty” brought by frequent polls. During his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi argued that frequent elections hampered the ‘country’s progress.’

The proposal needs to be passed through both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to become law. The Constitution will also be required to be amended, with ratification required from all states and union territories.