When Mamata Banerjee wrote to Centre on One Nation One Poll: Don’t understand…

With the Union Cabinet clearing the proposal for a One Nation One Election on Wednesday, the move has come under intense criticism from the opposition. Among the vocal critics of the proposal has been West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had earlier this year shot off a letter to the secretary of the One Nation One Election panel, expressing her disagreement with the concept.
The report of the panel, headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, was presented to the Centre in March. It received Cabinet approval on Wednesday, bringing simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies a step closer.
In January this year, Banerjee, in her letter to Dr Nitin Chandra, said the idea of simultaneous polls went against the federal structure of the country. She has also questioned the concept of “One Nation” in the given context.
“I disagree with your formulation and proposal… While I understand the meaning of ‘One Nation’ in a historical-political-cultural sense, I do not understand the exact Constitutional and structural implications of the term in the present case. Does the Constitution follow the concept of One Nation, One Government? I am afraid it does not,” the Trinamool chief had said.
The fiery Chief Minister also called it an attempt to bring in a presidential form of government. She wrote that the nation has been given a Union Government and several state governments.
Banerjee also flagged that the cycle of simultaneous elections would be snapped in case of premature dissolutions of the Lok Sabha or state Assemblies.
“If the framers of the Constitution did not mention the concept of One Nation, One Government, how have you arrived at the concept of One Nation, One Election? Unless this basic enigma is sorted, it is difficult to arrive at any firm view on the catchy phrase,” Banerjee wrote.
The Trinamool chief had also skipped a ‘One Nation One Election’ committee meeting on February 6 in Delhi this year and instead had deputed two Lok Sabha deputies.