“Edappadi Palaniswami also opposed One Nation One Election…”: MK Stalin

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 11 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday launched an attack on former Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and said during his tenure he also opposed the “One Nation One Election”. 

“Edappadi Palaniswami was also opposed to “One Nation One Election” when he was Chief Minister. He expressed his opposition through a letter,” he added. 

Earlier in 2009, when J Jayalalithaa was alive, she opposed the idea of simultaneous election when the then BJP leader LK Advani suggested a fixed term for legislatures by conducting elections for the Lok Sabha and Assemblies at the same time.

Meanwhile, AIADMK General Secretary extended his support to ideas and said “AIADMK strongly advocates Elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies be held simultaneously. As it will escalate the speed of our country’s development and avoid political instability.”

“Simultaneous elections will save time, colossal cost and give longer uninterrupted period of governance to implement policies effectively for any elected government both federal & state. The process will strengthen our federalism setup, which might lead to better voter turnout and democratic participation.” 

Amid the persisting sound and fury over Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s rank against ‘Sanatan Dharma’, MK Stalin hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that in Manipur there was a huge protest and churches were demolished, first, we will talk about that and then we will talk about Sanatana.

The central idea behind One Nation, One Election is to synchronize the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections across all States to reduce the frequency of polls throughout the country.

This concept was the practice till 1967, but it was disrupted due to various reasons such as defections, dismissals, and dissolutions of government.

Earlier on September 2, the Centre constituted an eight-member High-Level Committee to examine the issue of ‘one nation, one election’ and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country.

“In Manipur, there was a huge protest and churches were demolished. First, we will talk about that and then we will talk about Sanatana,” MK Stalin said. 

He further said that the BJP is creating every problem every day to cover up the seven and a half lakh crore corruption. 

“They (BJP) are creating every problem every day to cover up the seven and a half lakh crore corruption. DMK is a party created for policy. The ruling is not important to us. Social justice is important to us so I will talk about Sanathanam.” he added. 

Earlier, speaking at the Chennai conference, Udhayanidhi, the minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Tamil Nadu government, likened Sanatan Dharma with “mosquitoes, dengue, malaria, fever and corona”, saying that it should be eradicated and not merely opposed.