NEW DELHI: The committee on ‘One Nation, One Election’ led by former president Ram Nath Kovind has received over 5,000 suggestions from the public on conducting simultaneous polls. The Centre has set up the panel on September 2 to examine and make recommendations to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies.
On January 5, the high-level committee issued a notice in mainstream newspapers, inviting suggestions from the public on conducting simultaneous elections by January 15 — via email, on its website, or through post. It said that suggestions are sought for “making appropriate changes in the existing legal administrative framework to enable simultaneous elections in the country.”
According to sources, over 5,000 emails have been received in the last 10 days. In the notice, the panel had said that the suggestions received by January 15 would be taken up for consideration. The committee has so far held two meetings since it was constituted in September 2023.
Last week, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury wrote to the panel, saying that the proposal of ‘One Nation One Poll’ itself runs against the letter and spirit of the Constitution, which defines the “centrality of the will of the people”.
Terming the plan as “inherently anti-democratic,” Yechury said that the proposal “negated” the fundamental principles of federalism. The agenda and purpose of the committee was “pre-decided and predestined,” he said. The panel had recently written to political parties seeking their views and an interaction on a “mutually agreed date.”