“Fear of defeat”: Former Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy slams Centre on ‘One Nation, One Election’

Puducherry [India]: Reacting to Centre’s proposal of ‘One Nation, One Election’, former Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Saturday slammed the Central Government and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to bring this system out of fear of failure.

“One Nation, One Election is working to undermine federalism. BJP is trying to bring this system out of fear of failure. This is not compatible with Indian democracy. Because there will be multiple elections in the states. It is not possible to hold assembly elections along with parliamentary elections,” Narayanasamy said.

The central idea behind One Nation, One Election is to synchronize the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections across all States to reduce the frequency of polls throughout the country.

This concept was the practice till 1967, but it was disrupted due to various reasons such as defections, dismissals, and dissolutions of government.

Earlier on September 2, the Centre constituted an eight-member High-Level Committee to examine the issue of ‘one nation, one election’ and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country.

Apart from the chairperson, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission chairperson NK Singh, senior advocate Harish Salve, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari were named members of the committee.

However, Adhir, the Leader of the Opposition, in the Lok Sabha, declined to serve on the panel saying its “terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions”.

According to government sources, he had consented to be a part of the high-level committee before the names were officially notified.

The committee was put together just months ahead of the assembly elections to five states and the Lok Sabha polls next year, setting off speculations that the polls might be held at the same time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pitched the idea of ‘One Nation, One Election’ on several occasions.

In November 2020, PM Modi, addressing a conference of presiding officers, said, “One Nation, One Election is a necessity for India.

There is an election every month in the country, hampering development. Why should so much public money be wasted on holding elections?”