Kerala Assembly unanimously passes resolution against simultaneous election plan

The ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) came together on Thursday to unanimously pass a resolution in the Kerala Assembly, demanding the Union Government to urgently withdraw its ‘one nation, one election’ plan describing it as undemocratic and at odds with Constitutional values and the country’s federal structure.

The proposal to hold simultaneous elections in India, as recommended by the Ram Nath Kovind panel, would serve only to weaken the powers and rights of the State legislatures and render local self-government institutions irrelavant, the resolution, presented in the House by Minister for Local Self-Government and Parliamentary Affairs M.B. Rajesh on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said.

Instead of enabling democratic decentralisation, the proposal would pave the way for out-and-out centralisation of power. It illustrates the RSS-BJP agenda for imposing a centralised, unitary administrative system in the country, the resolution said.

The recommendation to hold all the elections simultaneously is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and against Constitutional values. Fundamentally undemocratic, it is detrimental to the parliamentary democratic system envisioned in the Constitution of India, it said.

After Independence, a multi-party democratic system gained in strength in India and, as a result of it, different political parties came to power in the Centre and in the States. Political parties holding different views have been in power at the same time at the Centre and in the States.

Supporters of democracy across the globe have viewed this as illustrative of the social, cultural and political diversity that exists in the country. The move to hold simultaneous elections is being viewed as a despicable attempt to destroy this diversity.

The Union Cabinet had on September 18 accepted the recommendations of the high-level panel headed by Mr. Kovind, paving way for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies as the first step, and local body polls within 100 days of it in the next phase.

The move to shorten the terms of elected State Assemblies and local bodies before the completion of their five-year term to synchronise the elections with the next Lok Sabha polls is tantamount to insulting the people who have elected them.

When there are simpler ways to cut election expenditure and streamline governance, resorting to the simultaneous election theory is harmful to the federal structure and the rights of the States besides challenging the mandate of the people, the resolution said.

Published - October 10, 2024 07:14 pm IST