NEW DELHI: TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday rejected the idea of ‘one nation, one election’, saying it would be against the basic structure of India’s constitutional arrangements.
“I regret that I cannot agree with the concept of ‘one nation, one election’, as framed by you. We disagree with your formulation and proposal,” Banerjee wrote in a letter to the secretary to the high-level committee on ‘one nation, one election’, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
Objecting to “the most unrepresentative composition of this committee”, she pointed out that no chief ministers were taken on board “for fear of receiving practical objections”. “You (Kovind panel) seem to be conveying some sort of a unilateral ‘top-down decision’ already taken by the Central Government to impose a structure that is certainly against the spirit of a truly democratic and federal one laid down by the Constitution of India,” Banerjee wrote.
“From the tenor of your letter, it appears that you view the proposed amendments to the Constitution as a mere formality that is to be got over with, along with other minor matters like preparation of common electoral rolls. Instead of consulting state governments, that are, indeed, the very pillars of our federal Constitution, your letter brusquely informs us that the high-level committee is in agreement with the much-touted advantages of simultaneous all-India polls,” Banerjee wrote.
The high-level panel had in its very first meeting on September 23 last year decided to seek views of political parties and sought an interaction with them on a “mutually agreed date” to elicit their views on synchronised polls. Banerjee’s letter was in response to it.
“If the framers of the Indian Constitution did not mention the concept of ‘One Nation, One Government’, how have you arrived at the concept of ‘One Nation, One Election’? Unless this basic enigma is sorted, it is difficult to arrive at any firm view on the catchy phrase. Non-simultaneous federal and state elections are a basic feature in the Westminster system which should not be altered. To paraphrase, non-simultaneity is part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitutional arrangements,” she wrote.