Constitution mustn’t be amended for ruling party’s ambitions: Left’s Dipankar on simultaneous polls

Patna, Sep 18 (PTI) CPI(ML) Liberation, which is a part of the opposition bloc INDIA, slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre after the Union Cabinet accepted a high-level panel’s recommendations for simultaneous elections, stating that it undermines the basic spirit of democracy and federalism.

CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya told PTI the Constitution must not be amended to suit the ruling party’s political ambitions.

“It is an attempt to strike at the basic structure of the Constitution and undermine the basic spirit of democracy and federalism that is the lifeblood of the Constitution. This move is completely undemocratic,” he said.

“In the name of ‘one nation, one election’, BJP wants to set the political clock back and enforce a regimentation of the polity through constitutional amendments. Earlier in July 2023, the CPI(ML) Liberation, in response to the letter from the Law Commission on ‘one nation, one election’, rejected the very idea as undemocratic and unconstitutional,” he said.

Bhattacharya said assembly and Lok Sabha elections have their specific contexts as do panchayat and municipal polls.

“Clubbing elections together for logistical considerations will mean stripping assembly elections of their autonomous domain and making them subordinated to the central context,” he said.

“The assumption that holding simultaneous elections would make for logistical convenience and financial savings is not backed by any credible study or analysis of election expenses or logistical arrangements,” he claimed.

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted the committee’s recommendations in its meeting held earlier in the day.

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw called for a comprehensive discussion on the issue and said the government will work to evolve a consensus on the issue, which has been strongly opposed by opposition parties.