The Centre recently formed a high-level committee under former president Ram Nath Kovind to explore the feasibility of holding simultaneous polls.
Published Sep 06, 2023 | 7:03 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 06, 2023 | 7:03 PM
Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar. (rajivkumarecTwitter)
On Wednesday, 6 September, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is ready to act as per constitutional provisions and the Representative of the People (RP) Act, in the context of One Nation, One Election.
Kumar and other top ECI officials were on a visit to Bhopal to hold meetings with political parties and administration and enforcement agencies over election preparedness in BJP-governed Madhya Pradesh, where polls are due this November.
Responding to a question on the concept of One Nation, One Election, the CEC said that the poll commission was required to “deliver elections before the time” as per constitutional provisions and the RP Act.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal attended the first meeting of the committee convened by its chairman, former president Ram Nath Kovind, on Wednesday.
This time, according to legal provisions, is five years from the date of the first sitting of the Parliament after a new government is formed. The ECI can announce the general elections six months before the end of this time, Kumar said. The norms are similar for the Assembly elections.
The ECI is mandated and ready to deliver elections as per legal provisions, he added.
Last week, the Centre formed a high-level committee under former president Ram Nath Kovind to explore the feasibility of holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and local bodies, bringing One Nation, One Election into the spotlight.
On Sunday, top law ministry officials had briefed Kovind and had sought to know how he would like to go about the mandate of the committee.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, prominent jurist Harish Salve, former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari, former Finance Commission chairman NK Singh, and former secretary-general of the Lok Sabha Subhash C Kashyap have been named as members of the committee.
Chowdhury, however, in a strongly worded letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, said that he would not be part of the committee.
The information about the committee members was initially “leaked” shortly after the government unexpectedly convened, on 18 September, a five-day special session of Parliament.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi emphasised that the committee’s report would be subjected to public scrutiny and discussion in the Parliament.
Leaders of the Opposition bloc, INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), slammed this during their meeting in Mumbai on 1 September.
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the BJP’s diversionary and distractionary tactics cannot betray the people anymore.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut called the Union government’s move a “conspiracy to postpone polls” at five state assemblies — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Telangana — this year-end.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu ruling DMK opposed the proposal to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
After the Centre constituted the panel to explore the feasibility of One Nation, One Election, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said, on X, “One Nation, One Election is against the interests of the country.”
(With PTI inputs)
