Panel formed to give report on ‘one nation, one election’ issue.
The Modi government has constituted a committee to look into the ‘One Nation, One Election’ issue and submit a report for a debate in Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Friday.
The government seeks to bring back previous electoral arrangement of holding simultaneous polls of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies that existed till late 1960s. The BJP in its 2014 election manifesto had promised to “seek through consultation with other parties to evolve a method of holding Assembly and Lok Sabha polls simultaneously”. Giving the rationale behind it, the BJP poll document had stated that “apart from reducing election expenses for both political parties and [the] government, this will ensure continued stability for State governments”.
According to the PTI, former President Ram Nath Kovind would head the committee on One Nation, One Election. “A committee has been formed to look into the issue. Why are Opposition parties worried, ‘One Nation, One Election’ is not going to happen tomorrow. The committee will talk and give a report which will be debated in Parliament,” Joshi told reporters in Jaipur.
