New Delhi:
The BJP has long demanded ‘one nation, one election’ and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also supported this call, Union Minister Anurag Thakur told DailyExpertNews today.
Mr Thakur’s comment comes a day after the government released key details of the eight-member commission, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, to see whether Lok Sabha elections and state assemblies can be held simultaneously.
“What’s the problem with holding simultaneous elections? If elections are held simultaneously, it will save time and money and the government can use the saved time to work for the poor, for the development of the nation,” said the Mr Thakur, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, told DailyExpertNews.
Mr Thakur rejected the opposition’s criticism of the government convening a special session of parliament from September 18-22, saying the government has every right to convene such a session.
“In fact, they should be happy that the government has called a parliamentary session. It is a democratic exercise,” Mr Thakur said. He said the “one nation, one nation” committee also has members of the opposition so they can express their views.
“But they left. They don’t believe in arguments. They just make noise in the streets, just make accusations and run away. Do you remember how many days of the monsoon session (of parliament) they had wasted?” Mr. Thakur said.
He said the opposition made similar accusations when the government was in the process of introducing the goods and services tax system (GST), a kind of “one nation, one tax”.
“Earlier, collecting Rs 90,000 crore was a difficult task. Today we collect Rs 1.60 lakh crore. This money has been used to develop infrastructure, build houses and toilets for the poor, free vaccines, new airports, new medical colleges, more AIIMS…” said the Union minister.
The leader of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has refused to be part of the eight-member committee.
In a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also a member of the committee, Mr Chowdhury pointed out that the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge “has been excluded from the committee”, and instead they have former congress leader Ghulam Nabi. Azad.
“This is a deliberate affront to the system of parliamentary democracy,” Chowdhury said in the letter.
Congressman Rahul Gandhi said today that the idea of ’one nation, one election’ is an attack on the Indian Union and all its states.
The nine-member commission will consider whether the amendments to the constitution should be ratified by states, according to today’s government gazette notice.
The committee will analyze and recommend possible solutions related to simultaneous elections if there is a hanged house, vote of no confidence, defection or the like.
It will be explored to establish a single electoral roll and voter ID card valid for the elections at the national, state, civic body and panchayat level, the government said in the notice.