Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist Prashant Bhushan on Sunday said the idea of “one nation, one election” floated by the Narendra Modi government was injurious to democracy and alleged that it was a ploy to postpone the upcoming Assembly elections in five states where the BJP was unsure of its prospects.

Bhushan told reporters here that the one-nation-one-election balloon had been deliberately floated by the Centre, which is fully aware that the idea is undemocratic. “How is it possible to implement such an idea in a democratic country like India? What happens if a democratically elected government in a state or at the Centre falls before time? Will they impose the President’s rule? This does not suit our kind of parliamentary democracy. This could perhaps be implemented in a presidential form of government,” Bhushan said.

He said there was an attempt to ignite a debate on the issue and the government would try to pass a resolution in Parliament in support of this. “Their obvious aim is to postpone the elections in five states — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana and Rajasthan — where they are not confident of winning.

“They will try to impose the President’s rule in these states and hold elections there simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls,” said the lawyer who dismissed speculation about early elections as premature and without any basis.

Asked whether the plan was democratic and morally right, Bhushan said: “This government is not worried about these things. They will resort to any means to achieve their ends.”