New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) objected to the proposal for 'One Nation, One Election,' alleging that it harbors a "hidden agenda" to turn India into a "dictatorship."
A delegation led by Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kalyan Banerjee appeared for a meeting with the panel chaired by former president Ram Nath Kovind after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was to attend the meeting, cancelled her trip to Delhi at the last moment due to state budget-related work, reported PTI.
Speaking to the reporters, Kalyan Banerjee said they referred to a letter written by the Bengal CM to the panel and expressed opposition to the idea. "We appeared before the committee headed by the former president. We referred to the letter written by our leader Mamata Banerjee. We have said very categorically that we are opposing the idea of 'One Nation, One Election'. There is a hidden agenda to form a dictatorship government in future," Banerjee said.
"Earlier there were practically two national parties which had political operations all over India. Now so many regional parties have come. The Constitution itself says so far as state legislature is concerned, it is the people's will to choose their government for five years. Similarly people will choose the central government for five years. These two articles are the basic structure of the Constitution," Banerjee said, as per the PTI report.
TMC contends that the proliferation of regional parties across India underscores the diverse political landscape and the need to respect the autonomy of states in choosing their governments. "Let's assume that a state government has fallen. That's happening now everywhere. In that case, would that state government continue or for the rest of the period president's rule will be imposed? In that case people's choice will be compromised... This idea is really interfering with the federal structure of the country itself", Kalyan remaked, as per PTI.
Previously, CM Mamata Banerjee expressed her reservations about the concept in a letter to the high-level committee, saying she does not agree with the concept as framed by them. She said she disagreed with their "formulation and proposal," the PTI report added.
The West Bengal CM questioned the meaning of 'One Nation' in the context and added that unless the "basic enigma" of where the concept came from is solved, it is difficult to arrive at any firm view on the catchy phrase, reported PTI.