With the One Nation, One Election Bill set to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on December 17, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has called the move “anti-federal and impractical”. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai has also condemned the Bill, accusing the Union government of “authoritarianism” and of “ignoring the objections of the Opposition and the public.”
In a statement, Stalin said, “The INDIA bloc will resist the anti-federal and impractical One Nation, One Election Bill as it will push the country into the perils of a unitary form of governance, killing its diversity and democracy in the process.”
As per the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha and assembly elections will be held simultaneously. If the Lok Sabha or a State Legislative Assembly is dissolved prematurely, elections will be held to form a new government for the remaining period, rather than a full five-year term.
The CM also alleged that the Union government is seeking to push the Bill with “the ulterior motive of conducting a Presidential form of election, which is against the spirit of our Constitution.” Stalin added that, “The proposed bill, if passed and implemented, will remove the legal checks and balances put in place in the form of periodic elections by the framers of our great Constitution to prevent the country from slipping into anarchy and totalitarianism. Also, State elections would lose their political significance and regional sentiments and diversity would be destroyed.”
Stalin also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lacks the required majority to pass the Bill in the Lok Sabha. Adding that the Bill “threatens to alter India’s polity forever,” he said: “Yet, a brazen attempt is being made to settle scores and deflect attention from the BJP’s failures to address core issues affecting the country’s progress. All the democratic forces must unite and fight tooth and nail against this abomination imposed in the garb of electoral reform to save India, its diversity and the Constitution.”
Similarly, Selvaperunthagai said in a statement that, “The fascist BJP government is functioning autocratically by introducing the One Nation, One Election Bill at a time when both the Opposition and public are objecting to it. The TNCC strongly condemns this.” He added that Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul would work with the public to overcome the Union government’s “anti-people” governance.