OPINION | One Nation, One Election: What’s the game?

To expect political parties to rise above politics on the issue of 'One Nation, One Election', is to ask for the moon. At the ground level, some opposition parties feel that if simultaneous elections are held, they may not have adequate resources to counter Modi.

When the first general elections in India were held in 1951, after our nation became a republic, both Lok Sabha and assembly elections were held simultaneously. The 'One Nation, One Election' idea is not new. Probably, the makers of the Constitution had no premonitions about break-up of political parties, leaders changing parties, governments collapsing, followed by mid-term elections. The reality now is: governments at the Centre and states collapsed so many times and subsequently elections were held.

We have now arrived at a situation where assembly elections are held in states after gaps of almost every six months. Because of frequent holding of elections, neither the Centre nor the state governments can undertake reforms and take hard decisions, out of fear that they might lose their vote banks, or face dissatisfaction from voters. The idea of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections is a good one, but it may be difficult to implement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intentions may be bonafide, but it has now become a habit for the Congress to oppose every major decision of the Modi government. Congress leaders smell conspiracy behing every major step that Modi takes. Other political parties, instead of accepting the merits, will rather opt to weigh whether the decision will be useful or harmful to their interests.

To expect political parties to rise above politics on the issue of 'One Nation, One Election', is to ask for the moon. At  the ground level, some opposition parties feel that if simultaneous elections are held, they may not have adequate resources to counter Modi. Their second fear is that they do not have a strong national level leader like Modi who can sway voters when elections are held across the country. But these parties are unwilling to admit this in public. That is why, these opposition leaders are giving diverse reactions.

Some allege that Modi is trying to weaken state governments, some allege an RSS agenda behind this, while some say, Modi wants to bring presidential system of government. All such apprehensions are baseless. I have already disclosed the real reason. Opposition leaders feel that even if all of them join hands in a 'One Nation, One Election' battle, they cannot match Modi. They apprehend that Modi has opted for 'One Nation, One Election' because he may have a big plan in his mind which he wants to implement. This fear and suspicion will prevent most of these parties from coming forward to support this decision.

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