Dismissing the idea of ‘one nation, one election’ as mere jumla (sloganeering), Aam Aadmi Party National General Secretary (Organisation) Dr Sandeep Pathak said holding the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls simultaneously is neither real nor practical.
Elections were to be held in four states, but the Modi government held assembly elections only in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. They did not hold elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is demanding that Delhi assembly elections be held along with Jharkhand and Maharashtra, but they are not agreeing. When they are unable to hold elections in three or four states simultaneously, then how will they be able to hold ‘one nation, one election’?
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for simultaneous elections across the country, aligning polls for both the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
In an interview with a news agency, Dr Sandeep Pathak said we feel that this is another new slogan of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A few days ago, elections were due to be held in four states. In the elections of four states, they held elections in only two states, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, leaving out Jharkhand and Maharashtra. “If you are not able to hold elections of four states simultaneously, how will you hold one nation one election. We are demanding that elections be held in Delhi along with Maharashtra and Jharkhand. They are not agreeing to that also. When you are unable to hold elections of three or four states simultaneously, then how is it possible that you will hold elections simultaneously in the entire country. So, this is a very big slogan,” he said.
Reasoning what will happen if a state government falls before completing its full term, the AAP National General Secretary (Organisation) said, “What will happen if a government falls halfway through its term. If a government falls in two and a half years during the 5-year term, will the President’s rule be imposed there for two and a half years again? And if President’s rule is imposed for the remaining term, two and a half years, then does the BJP think that it will have its own way through the Governor/LG under the President’s rule.”
Criticising the BJP for toppling various state governments in the past, Dr Sandeep Pathak said the BJP is already doing the work of destabilizing many democratically elected governments through Governor/LG. So, is this their sinister plan to destabilize the states by doing this. I believe that this is a similar slogan of Bharatiya Janata Party like bringing the law for farmers without holding discussion with the farmers, enforcing demonetization without discussing with the experts and like they made people bang the plates during Corona. This is also a new slogan; nothing is going to happen with it.
He said that our demand from Modi government is that before bringing ‘one nation, one election’, he should conduct elections of Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Delhi simultaneously. “Whenever any such decision is taken, all national, state and regional parties should be included in it. There are currently 6 major parties in the country, 57 state parties and around 3000 small parties. If you do not ensure the participation of all parties in such decisions, then how will the democracy of the country run?,” he said.
The AAP National General Secretary (Organisation) said that I feel that Modi government has taken such a big decision without talking to all the political parties. “This is the same way as they did demonetization, just like they formed a committee for the farmers. You made three black laws for the farmers without talking to them. Whatever happened to their black law, demonetization, the same will be the fate of their one country, one election. The Aam Aadmi Party will strongly oppose this decision of Modi government from the road to the Parliament,” he said.
Dr Sandeep Pathak said we feel that this is sloganeering. “There is no seriousness in it. The Aam Aadmi Party will oppose it. The government should come up with answers to the questions we are asking. We are ready to agree to every constructive proposal, but we don’t think that the government itself is serious, we feel that it is a Jumla,” he said.
