Centre sets up committee to examine ‘one nation, one election' proposal, Chowdhury declines invite

The Centre formed an eight-member High-Level Committee on Saturday (September 2), in order to analyse the issue of ‘one nation, one election’ and make recommendations for carrying concurrent elections in the country.

The committee comprises former President Ram Nath Kovind, who is also the Chairman, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, Senior Advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari.

As per a statement by the government, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the High-Level Committee as a special invitee.

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The committee has been set up months before assembly polls in five states and ahead of Lok Sabha polls next year.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had informed about the constitution of the committee on Friday.

"Right now, a committee has been constituted. A report from the committee will come out which will be discussed. The Parliament is mature, and discussions will take place, there is no need to get nervous. India is called the mother of democracy, there is always an evolution. I will discuss the agenda of the Special session of Parliament," he said.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declines invitation to be member of panel

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was named a member of the High-Level Committee (HLC), on Saturday, declined to serve as a member on the panel saying that its “terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions”

In a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also a member of HLC, Chowdury, who is Congress leader in Lok Sabha, questioned the Centre’s motives in forming the committee.

“I have just got to know through the media and a Gazette notification has appeared that I have been appointed as a Member of the High-Level Committee on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas. I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash,” Chowdhury said.

He called the move by the Centre as “constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible”.

“The sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about ulterior motives of the government,” he said.

He also raised objections to the exclusion of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from HLC.

“I find that the current LOP in the Rajya Sabha has been excluded. This is a deliberate insult to the system of Parliamentary democracy. In these circumstances, I have no option but to decline your invitation,” he said.

Opposition slams ‘One Nation, One Election’

The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government announced on Friday (September 1) that it had set up a committee to study the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal which refers to holding the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls simultaneously across the country.

Reacting to the proposal at a press conference in Mumbai, Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, said that the plan was proposed because the strength of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance is making the ruling government “nervous”.

He added, “We should be prepared for more attacks in the coming months, more raids and arrests due to this government’s vendetta politics.”

He also spoke about the opposition alliance’s roadmap for the upcoming elections and said, “The first meeting in Patna was about setting the agenda. Then the second meeting happened in Bangalore. We all are again meeting in Mumbai. Our aim is to fight against inflation, price rise, and unemployment.”

“We will be working based on the resolutions that were decided today…(Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi announced a special session without asking anyone. No committee was called. No discussion was held,” said Kharge.

He added, “We are inching towards dictatorship. Institutional corruption is a sign of the Modi government. The next meeting will be fixed soon.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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