New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at government of India’s ‘One Nation, One Election’ decision, calling it an attack on the Indian union and all its states.
“INDIA, that is Bharat, is a Union of States. The idea of ‘one nation, one election’ is an attack on the Union and all its States”, Gandhi posted on X, formerly called Twitter.
Earlier on Friday, the GoI formed a committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of ‘One Nation One Election’ that aims for holding of general and state elections simultaneously.
The move comes a day after reports said that the government may introduce a ‘One Nation, One Election’ bill in the special session of Parliament, scheduled to be held from September 18 to 22.
The setting up of the panel opens up the possibility of Lok Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with a string of assembly elections to be held later this year.
The idea of ‘One Nation, One Election’ refers to holding simultaneous elections across the country.
This means that elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies across India will be held simultaneously — with voting presumably taking place around the same time.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has been a strong proponent of the ‘One Nation One Election’ since coming to power in 2014, citing financial burden caused by the continuous election cycle and an obstacle to development work during polls.
Kovind too had echoed Modi’s view and expressed his support for the idea after becoming President in 2017.
The special session of Parliament will be the first such special session in the nine years of Modi-led government, which had convened a special joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to mark the midnight GST roll-out on June 30, 2017.
However, it will be a full-fledged session of five days this time with both Houses meeting separately as they usually do during sessions.
