Not good for federalism: BJP leader slams Kerala Govt for passing resolution against ‘One Nation One Election’

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 11 (ANI): Slamming the Kerala government for passing a resolution in the assembly to oppose the Centre’s ‘One Nation One Election’ proposal, BJP leader N Ramchander Rao said the ruling CPI(M) has “less national interest.”

He said the resolution is “not in a good taste in federalism,” the Kerala government has only opposed the ‘One Nation One Poll’ as it has been brought by the BJP-led government.

His remarks come after Kerala Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution, urging the central government to withdraw its proposed “One Nation, One Election” reform, describing it as undemocratic and detrimental to the nation’s federal structure.

Speaking to ANI, Rao called on the Kerala government to take back the particular resolution.

“The Kerala government’s decision to pass the resolution in the assembly to oppose the ‘One Nation One Poll’ is something which is not in a good taste in a federalism when the Government of India takes a decision. The Opposition governments are opposing any decision taken by the Centre…The Communist Party has less national interest than their own political interest,” he said

‘One Nation, One Poll’ is being opposed by the Kerala Government only “because it has been brought by BJP Government at the Centre. So, such attitude is not good in federalism…,” he stressed.

He further said, ” Earlier also the Government of India has taken decision on amending the Citizens Amendment Act to bring in the NPR. But, some states who are opposed to Bharatiya Janata Party have passed resolutions in their own states, thereby scuttling the process of collecting the information on various sections of people with regard to their economic status, and also giving citizenship to certain people who have been persecuted in their countries and they came to India as migrants. So, the opposition governments, mainly the Congress and the Communist, both alike, are opposing any decision taken by the central government. They want to oppose it only for the sake of opposition. In fact, the Communist Party has less national interest than their own political interest.”

On Thursday, Kerala Legislative Assembly passed a resolution introduced under Rule 118 by Parliamentary Affairs Minister MB Rajesh in the absence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who could not attend due to health issues.

The former MLC emphasised that this type of attitude of any particular government or political party is not good for federalism and called for taking back the resolution.

“So, ‘One Nation One Poll’ is being opposed by Kerala government only because it has been brought by BJP government etc. Therefore this type of attitude of any political party or any state government is not good in federalism. At least now sense should prevail in the government of Kerala and their leaders and they should again take back and recall that particular resolution which has been made in the Kerala assembly,” he said.

The resolution opposes the central government’s push for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and local bodies, a move that the Kerala government believes undermines the democratic process. The Assembly stated that such a reform would disregard India’s social, cultural, and political diversity.

According to the resolution, the proposal to conduct simultaneous elections threatens to weaken the multi-party democratic system that has been developed since India’s independence. By holding all elections together, the Assembly fears that it would curtail the autonomy of state governments and local governing bodies, thus centralizing power.

The high-level committee appointed by the central government to study the reforms has recommended shortening the terms of state assemblies that do not complete their full tenure before the next general elections. The resolution said that this would violate the democratic rights of citizens who elect their state governments for a full term.

“The proposal for simultaneous elections reflects an undemocratic mindset that sees elections as a mere cost, ignoring the deeper value of electoral democracy,” the resolution stated.

The resolution further criticized the central government’s plan as a move towards a centralized, unitary governance model, driven by the RSS-BJP’s agenda to undermine federalism and democratic decentralization in India.

The Kerala Assembly unanimously passed the resolution, calling for an immediate rollback of the “One Nation, One Election” initiative, emphasizing that it threatens the constitutional values and the democratic participation of the people.

Earlier in September, the Union Cabinet approved the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days.

The High-level Committee on Simultaneous Elections, constituted under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu earlier this year.

The government said that the report, comprising 18,626 pages, is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts, and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on September 2, 2023.