Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury agreed to be a part of ‘One Nation, One Election’ committee earlier than declining

Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who declined to serve on the panel fashioned by the Centre to look at ‘one nation, one election’ had given his consent to be a part of the committee earlier than notification with names got here out, a supply within the authorities mentioned on Sunday.

Notably, Chowdhury, who was named a member of the High-Level Committee (HLC) constituted by the Centre on Saturday to look at ‘one nation, one election’ has declined to serve on the panel, saying its “terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions”.

Chowdhary on Saturday wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah refusing to be part of the committee.

“The sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about the ulterior motives of the government”, the letter learn.

The Union Law Ministry on Saturday named eight members to the committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, that may look at the difficulty of simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, Assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.

Apart from the Chairperson, the committee will embody Home Minister Amit Shah, Chowdhury, former Leader of the Opposition within the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission chairperson NK Singh, senior advocate Harish Salve, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari.

The committee has been arrange months earlier than meeting polls in 5 states and forward of Lok Sabha polls subsequent yr.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had knowledgeable concerning the structure of the committee on Friday.

With 5 states going to the polls later this yr and some extra to go to polls with the General Elections due in 2024 there’s hypothesis that One Nation, One Election may change into a actuality very quickly.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a number of instances pitched the concept of One Nation, One Election. In November 2020 whereas addressing a convention of presiding officers he mentioned, “One nation, one election is not only a subject of debate but a necessity for India. There is an election in India every month, which hampers development. Why should the country waste so much money?”

If ‘One Nation, One Election’ does come into impact it may imply that elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies throughout India will probably be held concurrently, with voting going down on the similar time.

Conducting polls concurrently was the norm in India till 1967 and 4 elections had been held this fashion. The apply stopped after some state assemblies had been dissolved prematurely in 1968-69. The Lok Sabha was additionally, for the primary time, dissolved a yr forward of schedule in 1970 and mid-term elections had been held in 1971.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had mentioned in its 2014 election manifesto that it could search to evolve a way of holding the elections concurrently to each state assemblies and the Lok Sabha.

In December 2022, the Law Commission had sought the opinion of political events, the Election Commission of India, bureaucrats and different consultants on the proposal to carry simultaneous elections within the nation.

However, the opposition INDIA alliance which is engaged on a joint alliance to oppose the BJP within the Lok Sabha polls has objected to the proposal.

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