Hours after the Centre Saturday named an eight-member high-level committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, to “examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections” to Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, municipalities and panchayats, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the lone Opposition voice in the panel, declined to be a part of the exercise.
In a terse, but strong letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, Chowdhury said he cannot be part of the committee, the “terms of reference” of which “have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions.” He called the exercise an “eyewash”.
Incidentally, the terms (see adjacent story) in the notification were prefaced by the observation that simultaneous elections are in the “national interest” and the committee will “examine and recommend” measures to achieve this.
Sources said the decision that Chowdhury should not be part of the committee was taken at the highest level of the Congress. Although there were voices within that the Opposition should be part of the panel and raise its legitimate concerns and apprehensions, the view of the majority of the leaders was that the party cannot be part of such an exercise.
Chowdhury, one Opposition leader said, could have been the lone voice in the panel standing against the move, which if rolled out, he argued, could be a “watershed” and disruptive at the same time.
In fact, even before Chowdhury wrote to Shah, the Congress made it clear that it viewed the committee as not an exercise in “good faith” and that it could not “give legitimacy” to the panel in any way by being part of it.
“I have just got to know through the media and a Gazette notification is appeared that I have been appointed as a Member of the high-level committee on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas. I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash,” Chowdhury wrote to Shah.
He flagged the timing: “The sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about ulterior motives of the government.”
“Furthermore, I find that the current LOP in the Rajya Sabha has been excluded. This is a deliberate insult to the system of Parliamentary democracy. In these circumstances, I have no option but to decline your invitation,” he added.
That the Congress could decline the invitation extended to Chowdhury, citing Kharge’s non-inclusion as one of the reasons, became clear when senior Congress general secretary K C Venugopal raised it in a social media post minutes before Chowdhury’s letter. It was clear that the party was preparing the ground for his exit.
Reacting to the setting up of the committee, Venugopal wrote on X: “We believe that the high level committee on simultaneous elections is nothing but a systematic attempt to sabotage India’s parliamentary democracy. In a shocking insult to Parliament, the BJP has appointed a former LOP to the Committee instead of Rajya Sabha LOP Mallikarjun Kharge.”
Venugopal was referring to the inclusion of Ghulam Nabi Azad.
The Congress and other Opposition parties had been of the view that the Government was trying to deflect attention from critical issues of governance by foisting the one nation, one election issue on to the political centre stage.
“First, they bring this gimmick to distract from the Adani Mega Scam, unemployment, price rise and other pressing issues of the people. Then, to make matters worse, they try to tilt this committee’s balance by excluding fierce opponents. What is the reason behind Kharge ji’s exclusion? Is a leader who has risen from such a humble background to the top post of India’s oldest party, leading the entire opposition in the Upper House, an inconvenience for the BJP-RSS?” Venugopal asked.
The Congress’s move to focus attention on Kharge and his “humble background” is seen as an attempt to counter possible BJP attacks on Congress’s decision to stay away from a panel headed by a former President, the second person from the Dalit community to occupy the highest office.
“The question of One Nation, One Election is a political-legal question. Actually, it is more political than legal. Whether the question deserves to be considered at this stage is highly debatable,” said senior Congress leader P Chidambaram. He said none of the major political parties, who are key stakeholders in the exercise, have been consulted before forming the committee.
“Besides, I am able to recognise only one acknowledged Constitutional Lawyer in the committee. Like every other issue sponsored by the BJP, the issue of One Nation, One Election seems to be a pre-determined and pre-packaged issue,” he said.
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Echoed RJD’s Manoj Jha. “I find it an utterly meaningless exercise. You have a very diverse country in front of you. Suppose you achieve one nation, one election…is there any guarantee that the assemblies which are chosen might (not) get fragmented the next day…. then what happens to the idea of one nation, one election,” he told The Sunday Express.
“Does India need this exercise now leaving aside important issues of unemployment, issues like harmony, important concerns with respect to federalism which is under attack. Except for one name, all other names (in the committee) sound to me as if the report is ready even before any (deliberation by the) committee. The committee is supposed to just put its mark, its stamp…this is not how democracy functions,” he said.
Said CPI general secretary D Raja: “The Government has convened a special session of Parliament. They could have had a discussion on this issue. At the end of the discussion, after hearing all shades of opinion, they could have created whatever mechanism they wanted to create. They are undermining Parliament.”
