Against ‘One Nation, One Election’: Mamata to Panel

Banerjee said that in 1952, the first general elections were simultaneously conducted for the central and state levels

Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to the high-level committee on “One Nation, One Election” expressing her disagreement with the concept of simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and assemblies, and said it would be against the basic structure of India’s constitutional. Banerjee said that in 1952, the first general elections were simultaneously conducted for the central and state levels. “There was such simultaneity for some years. But the coevality has since been ruptured...,” she said.

“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,” she wrote. She said there are basic conceptual difficulties in agreeing with the committee, and the concept is not clear. She added, “While I understand meaning of one nation in a historical-political-cultural sense, I do not understand the exact constitutional and structural implication of the term in the instant case. Does the Indian Constitution follow the concept of ‘One Nation, One Government’? I am afraid, it does not.”

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