Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said that the 'One Nation, One Election' idea is not acceptable. Pointing out India's federal structure, she said that the idea is not practically feasible, PTI reported.
Hours after sending a letter to Dr Niten Chandra, secretary of a high-level committee that has called for suggestions for implementation of the idea, Banerjee requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to look into the matter "very very rationally".
"I do not appreciate it in a practical sense because it is not possible, not acceptable, and not correct from the federal structure point of view. I will request the ECI to see it very sincerely, they have to be very very rational in this case particularly," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.
"This is not only our voice but INDIA's voice. We must see our state policy, central policy, state structure, our federal structure," she added.
The high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind had written to political parties seeking their opinion on the matter.
The committee has held two meetings since it was constituted in September last year. It has sought views from the public on the issue and has also written to political parties seeking their views and interaction on a "mutually agreed date" on the idea of simultaneous polls.
Meanwhile, the leader of the TMC declared on Wednesday that her party will stay in the INDIA bloc in opposition to the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. This occurred a few days after the alliance began to show cracks as a result of a dispute between the party and Congress over seat sharing in West Bengal.