Delhi, 03 Sep (CNI) :Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday condemned the idea of ‘One Nation, One Election’, calling it an attack on India, which is a Union of States.
Gandhi wrote on X, “INDIA, that is Bharat, is a Union of States. The idea of ‘one nation, one election’ is an attack on the 🇮🇳 Union and all its States.”
Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has also hit out at the BJP-led central government over the formation of a high-level committee on ‘One Nation, One Election’, saying that the timing of the committee is “highly suspect” and “its terms of reference have already determined its recommendations”.
This comes a day after Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declined to be a part of the eight-member committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, to “examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections” to Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.
Ramesh called it a “ritualistic exercise”, adding that “the composition of the committee is also a total give-away” and that the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has rightly refused to be a part of it.
Taking to the social media platform X, Ramesh wrote, “The High-level Committee on what is called “One Nation One Election” is a ritualistic exercise, the timing of which is highly suspect. Its terms of reference have already determined its recommendations. The composition of the Committee is also a total give-away and the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha @adhirrcinc last night very rightly refused to be part of it.”
Hours after the Centre Saturday named an eight-member high-level committee, Chowdhury, the lone Opposition voice in the panel, declined to be a part of the exercise.
In a terse, but strong letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, Chowdhury said he cannot be part of the committee, the “terms of reference” of which “have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions.” He called the exercise an “eyewash”.
“I have just got to know through the media and a Gazette notification is appeared that I have been appointed as a Member of the high-level committee on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas. I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash,” Chowdhury wrote to Shah.
Commenting on the matter, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that one nation one election will not only help save money but also create a much more predictable election cycle. Taking a jibe at the Congress party he said “It is certainly bad for parties like Congress, for parties that prey on weak and vulnerable people who have no interest in a prosperous India. So I’m not surprised that the dynasty and the Gandhi family have called up Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and said don’t join the committee.
“Their party leader travels all around the world, tears down our democracy, talks about our judiciary, talks negative about our media, economy talks about everything to tear down our country… Congress will distract, lie, slam, and do everything that holds the country back… Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision has put this country on a trajectory of growth,” Chandrashekhar said.(CNI)
