Kerala Assembly passes resolution against ‘one nation, one election’

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s Minister for Local Self-Government and Parliamentary Affairs MB Rajesh tabled a resolution against the Centre’s “one nation, one election” proposal, which the Assembly unanimously passed, Scroll reported citing The Hindu.

The resolution alleging “anti-democratic mindset” claimed that the Centre’s proposal would weaken the powers of the powers and rights of state legislatures alongside leaving local self-governments irrelevant.

“The proposal is also viewed as a sinister ploy to nix the socio-cultural and political diversity of the country,” The Indian Express quoted the resolution as stating.

The resolution stated that the 'one nation, one election' proposal is against constitutional values and it would undermine the parliamentary democratic system.

The resolution comes after the Union Cabinet cleared the report by a committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, which recommended ‘a two-step approach for implementing simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies’.

The resolution in Kerala Assembly stated that the Centre’s proposal would centralize power favouring the RSS and the BJP.

The resolution said that ‘The proposal disrupts federalism, which is a fundamental aspect of the Constitution, and violates the powers enjoyed by the states’, adding that it also ‘challenges the sovereignty of the public’, according to the report.

The Kerala Assembly pointed out that polls could not be viewed only in terms of monetary expenditure, adding that doing so would be ‘undemocratic’.

The Ram Nath Kovind-led committee proposed holding simultaneous elections as had been done initially after independence.

The report stated that holding polls every year causes ‘huge burden on the government, businesses, workers, courts, political parties, candidates contesting elections, and civil society at large’.