Representational
The Law Commission’s invitation to all the national and recognised state political parties to hold consultations on the practicality of conducting simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state legislatures has created a lot of activity in the political corridors of the country.
Whereas on the one hand, BJP and its allies have supported PM Narendra Modi’s ‘one nation one election’ idea, the opposition, on the other hand, has rejected it.
Here’s a list of parties supporting ‘one nation one poll’
JDU
Commenting on the topic of ‘one nation one election’ Janata Dal (United) on Sunday said the party is in the favour but it thinks it will not be easy to conduct the same.
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“We are in the favour of simultaneous elections, but we don't think it is easy to be conducted. However, we cannot oppose it as it is a step towards less expensive election, curbing black money & better governance,” ANI quoted KC Tyagi as saying.
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party favoured the idea. Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav said the initiative should be implemented in 2019 itself. "The SP is in favour of simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies," Yadav said.
TRS
The TRS favoured the idea too. Supporting the proposal, B Vinod Kumar of the TRS said, "Our party President and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao said we are strongly in favour of simultaneous elections. This can save a lot of money, time and wasteful expenditure... The Chief Ministers and Prime Minister can also function for the period of five years without disturbance."
Here’s a list of parties against ‘one nation one poll’
DMK
DMK leader M.K.Stalin on Sunday said his party is opposed to the Law Commission's proposal of 'One India One Elections', contemplating simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Speaking to reporters, he said the proposal is wrong and it is against the Constitution. Stalin said the party has sent its views to the Law Commission on its proposals.
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In its submission, signed by Stalin, the DMK expressed it "whole-hearted" opposition to the proposal, terming it "a complete misadventure that will decimate the federal structure".
TMC
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) described the concept of "one nation, one election" proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "impractical and unconstitutional".
Holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls were against the basic provisions of the Constitution, said senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, also a Supreme Court lawyer.
TDP
Opposing the idea of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and the state legislatures, the TDP said the proposal was "impracticable" and "against the spirit of the Constitution and federal structure".
"As per the Constitution, it is not possible and is impracticable. For simultaneous polls, either you have to extend or reduce the tenures of some state governments, which is against the spirit of the Constitution and federal structure," party MP K. Ravindra Kumar said.
AAP
AAP's Ashish Khetan, after meeting the Law Commission, said that for simultaneous polls to happen, the Constitution of India will have to be "mutilated and rewritten completely".
"We are against the idea of the so-called one-nation-one-poll because it will turn India's federal democracy into a managed democracy," Khaitan said, adding that the proposal "reeked of a dictatorial mindset".
JD-S
Terming the Law Commissions consultations on simultaneous polls a "futile exercise", the JD-S said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was just "testing the waters" through it with no real intentions of reforms in the electoral process.
"This is a futile exercise. In a federal democracy, you cannot think of simultaneous elections. If you want poll reforms, first and foremost, there must be a ceiling on expenditure by political parties during elections. But no one's talking about it," JD-S spokesman Danish Ali said after the meeting.
(With inputs from agencies)
