India News | Akhilesh Terms Simultaneous Polls 'impractical, Undemocratic'

Lucknow, Dec 12 (PTI) With the Union Cabinet approving a bill to implement 'one nation, one election', Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Thursday termed the idea of simultaneous polls "impractical and undemocratic".

Describing the move as the "collective hijacking" of the electoral system, the Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj claimed that it was a "conspiracy of autocratic idea against democracy".

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The ruling BJP took a major step on Thursday to implement its key plank of "one nation, one election" as the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the constitutional amendment bill to roll out the concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls.

Two draft legislations, including one simple bill to amend provisions in laws dealing with three Union territories with legislative assemblies to align them with the Constitution amendment bill, were given the nod by the Cabinet.

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In a post in Hindi on "X', Yadav said, "One nation, one election is not only impractical but also an undemocratic."

"Sometimes governments become unstable even in the middle of their term, then will the people there live without democratic representation? For this, the constitutionally elected government will have to be dissolved in the middle and it will be an insult to public opinion."

He also said the move for simultaneous election is a "big conspiracy of autocratic idea against democracy" that wants to "seize the whole country at once".

"Elections will become a 'dikhawati' (sham) process. The government which postpones elections in the name of rain and festivals, how can it claim to hold simultaneous elections?" the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister posed.

"'One nation, one election' is a deception, and the aim for a monopoly in an undemocratic manner is the root cause of it. This collective hijacking of the electoral system," he added.

Moving ahead with its 'one nation, one election' plan, the government in September accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner.

Citing recommendations of the high-level committee, sources said one of the proposed bills would seek to amend Article 82A by adding sub-clause (1) relating to the appointed date. It will also seek to insert sub-clause (2) to Article 82A relating to the end of terms of the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies together.

During the consultation process on the issue, 32 political parties supported the idea while 15 did not, according to former president Ram Nath Kovind, who headed the high-level committee that studied the proposal.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)