Trinamul general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday declared the BJP’s push for ‘one nation, one election’ as an unashamed attack on democracy, indicating the party would back the ally Congress with which its ties seemed to have strained over the past few weeks.
While the Rajya Sabha continues with the debate on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution of India on Tuesday, in the Lok Sabha the Narendra Modi government is likely to introduce the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, referred to as the “One Nation, One Election” Bill.
“The BJP’s brazen attempt to introduce a constitutional amendment bill today, while the constitution debate is underway in Parliament, is nothing short of an unashamed attack on democracy,” Abhishek, the MP from Diamond Harbour near Kolkata, wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle. “The One Nation One Election bill seeks to rob the people of their fundamental right to vote regularly — A right that holds governments accountable and prevents unchecked power.”
The bill to be tabled by the Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal proposes to bring Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body elections to be held at the same year, as was the practice in the first 20 years after Independence.
Once it is introduced, the Union law minister is likely to request the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the bill to a joint committee of Parliament for further discussions.
Most of the opposition parties including the Congress and the Trinamul have opposed the move.
The Trinamul’s Dum Dum MP Saugata Roy told the media in Delhi that on the instructions of the Bengal chief minister and Trinamul chairperson Mamata Banerjee, the party’s Lok Sabha MPs have decided to oppose the bill.
“The bill is anti-federal and we shall oppose it,” Roy said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has also pitched against the amendment to the Constitution.
“It is an attack on the Constitution and tampering with the election process. The BJP wants to centralise power. We don’t know how cost-effective it will be. We will oppose this bill,” said Priyanka Chaturvedi, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP.
Another belligerent ally in the Opposition bloc, the Samajwadi Party, too has decided to oppose the bill.
“The word “one” is undemocratic. Democracy favours multitudes. When we speak of “one”, the other is excluded, which impacts tolerance in society. The idea of “one” makes an individual proud and turns the ruling side into a tyranny. The idea of “one nation, one election” will be fatal for the country as it will affect the federal structure and reduce the importance of regional issues,” the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote in a long post on X.
Abhishek described the bill as a direct assault on the foundation of democracy.
“This is not just a bill rather it is a direct assault on the very foundation of our democracy built through the sacrifices of our founding fathers. Bengal will not sit silent. We will fight tooth and nail to protect the soul of India and crush this anti-democratic agenda,” he said.
