'Should Mull One Nation, One Income': Tejashwi's Dig At Centre Over Decision To Explore Simultaneous Polls

The Centre formed a committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of 'one nation, one election'.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.

New Delhi: Coming down heavily on the Centre over its decision to form a panel to the mull the possibility of ‘one nation, one election’, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said before exploring this proposal, the government should implement the idea of ‘one nation, one income’ to do away with “unemployment and poverty” in the country, news agency ANI reported.

Speaking to the news agency, Tejashwi said, “As far as 'one nation, one election' is concerned, we would like to suggest Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement the idea of 'one nation, one income' first so that everyone has an equal income. There is unemployment and poverty. He should form a committee for 'one nation, one income' first.”

#WATCH | Patna | Bihar Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav says, "...As far as 'One Nation, One Election' is concerned, we would like to suggest PM Modi to implement 'One Nation, One Income' first so that everyone has an equal income. There is unemployment and poverty, he… pic.twitter.com/SJwzEQxx3T

— ANI (@ANI) September 1, 2023

Further taking potshots at PM Modi, the RJD leader said, “Now they are suggesting ‘one nation, one election’, next they would come up with a proposal suggesting the nation should just have the general elections and there’s no need for state polls. They would keep exploring the ideas of ‘one nation, one leader’, ‘one nation, one party’, ‘one nation, one religion’, ‘one nation, one language’. These ideas do not work in a democracy. We would like the prime minister to focus on the fiscal health of the country rather than exploring such ideas.”

Notably, the Centre formed a committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of 'one nation, one election' earlier in the day. The decision comes after the government announced a special five-day parliamentary session from September 18-22.

There are speculations that the Centre might table a Bill on 'one nation, one election', women's reservation, and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) during the special Parliament Session.

However, the government has not yet clarified the agenda of the special Parliament session.