Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the Committee’s terms of reference have been prepared in a manner as to guarantee its conclusions on the ‘one nation, one election’ concept.
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary: File Photo/PTI
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday, September 2, declined an invitation to be part of an eight-member committee formed by the Union government to examine the ‘one nation, one election’ concept. The development comes after the Union government announced its eight-member committee to explore the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections for state Assemblies and the Lok Sabha. In a letter, Chowdhury said, "I have just got to know through the media and a Gazette notification has appeared that I have been appointed as a Member of the High-Level Committee on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas… I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash. Moreover, the sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about ulterior motives of the government.” “Furthermore, I find that the current LoP (Leader of Opposition) in the Rajya Sabha has been excluded. This is a deliberate insult to the system of parliamentary democracy. In these circumstances, I have no option but to decline your invitation," he said. His remarks came after the government formed an eight-member committee to examine the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, with former President Ram Nath Kovind as its chairman and Home Minister Amit Shah and others as its members. The government said that Kovind has been appointed as chairman of the committee while Shah, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Rajya Sabha LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad, and others have been appointed as the members of the committee. Former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission NK Singh, former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari are the other names part of the eight-member panel.
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