The Kerala assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution with unanimous support, calling on the central government to retract its endorsement of the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal put forth by the Ramnath Kovind panel. The assembly characterized the proposal as “undemocratic and unconstitutional.”
The resolution was presented by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister MB Rajesh on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who expressed concerns that the proposal would undermine the federal structure of the nation and threaten the rich diversity inherent in India’s parliamentary democracy.
He indicated that this would also result in the shortening of the terms for various state assemblies and local self-governments across the nation. The high-level committee proposed that the initial step should be to conduct simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies, followed by coordinated local body elections within a period of 100 days.
Rajesh said this decision constituted a breach of the people’s mandate, posed a challenge to their democratic rights, and represented an encroachment upon a state’s authority to conduct elections, thereby undermining the federal structure of the nation.
