Kolkata, Jan 12:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday outrightly rejected the proposal “One Nation One Election,” saying the move was designed to “subvert” Indian Constitution’s basic structure.
“I incidentally suspect that the instant design to subvert the basic structure of the Indian Constitutional arrangements is aimed at converting the polity of ours into a Presidential system,” Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress chairperson, wrote in a letter to Nitin Chandra, secretary of the committee formed by Union Government to examine the “One Nation One Election” proposal.
“What is ‘One Nation’ in this context? While I understand the 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. Our Constitution conceives of the Indian nation in a federal manner, ” Banerjee noted in her letter.
” Instead of consulting State Governments, that are, indeed, the very pillars of our federal Constitution, your letter brusquely informs us (as a political party) that the high-level committee is in agreement with the much-touted advantages of simultaneous all-India polls. We object to the most unrepresentative composition of this Committee and point out that no Chief Ministers are taken on board for fear of receiving practical objections,” the TMC leader said.
She said, “The approach failed to consider that Parliamentary elections and State Legislative elections are substantially different in character? Numerous State level issues and debates will just be superseded by the so-called national election.”
“You 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 esteemed Constitution of India. 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.
“In sum, the fundamental issue is not to discuss ‘the advantages of simultaneous elections of Parliament and the State Legislatures’, as you have put it in your letter under reference. The issue is about why and how to arrange simultaneous elections in the Parliament and the State legislatures in the current circumstances and in the prism of the basic structure of our Constitution. The issue is not about “creating the ecosystem that would enable simultaneous elections.”
