NDA Seems Divided On 'One Nation One Election' Bill, Says NCP SP Leader
New Delhi: Senior Sharad Pawar’s NCP leader Jitendra Awhad slammed the BJP-led central government over its ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, which was tabled today, December 17, in the parliament. The bill secured around 269 votes in Parliament.
Lambasting the government for coming up with a proposal that would ‘undermine democracy and state rights,’ the NCP SP leader claimed that there is a rift within the NDA over the proposed bill. He said as the move was a blatant attempt to centralize power and erode the democratic rights of states, “Even the ruling NDA’s alliance partners seem divided on the issue,” Times of India quoted Jitendra Awhad. He was speaking with media personnel inside the premises of Vidhan Bhavan during the second day of the winter session of the Maharashtra state legislature.
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Around 269 votes were in favor of the bill, while the NDA has over 290 seats in the Lok Sabha. At least 198 members voted against the proposed bill. Notably, it was also the first time in the Lok Sabha that an electronic voting system was used.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that the voting in Lok Sabha showed the BJP did not have the two-thirds majority required to pass a constitutional amendment. The Thiruvananthapuram MP noted that the Congress is not the only one that has opposed this bill, adding that a vast majority of the opposition parties have opposed the bill, and the grounds are very many, including the violation of the federal structure of the Constitution.
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The government might constitute Parliament’s joint committee in such a way that it has a majority, but without a two-thirds majority in the House, there would not be a constitutional amendment, Tharoor said, adding that this discussion is increasingly futile.
The proposal seeks to simultaneously conduct national and state elections across the country. Though the government argues it would streamline the governance and reduce election expenditure, the opposition has been pointing out that it is a threat to the federal structure. The opposition parties have also called for increased public awareness.
