Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal has supported the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal of the Modi government, saying it is based on time-tested democratic practices borne out of political wisdom.
The ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal aims for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections, to be held on the same day or over a stipulated period.
Badal told ThePrint Thursday that his party had from day one supported the proposal under consideration of a high-level committee under former President Ram Nath Kovind.
“The practice of ‘One Nation, One Election’ will strengthen democratic and federal structures across the country, apart from saving time resources and money of the government,” he said.
The SAD is one of the few opposition parties in the country that have supported the idea. Most others, including the Congress and Trinamool Congress, have voiced concerns against the proposal. The SAD had broken off its decades-old ties with the BJP, which is heading the central government, in September 2020 in the wake of the farmers’ protest.
However, it has maintained its stance on the “One Nation, One Election” issue.
“Before 1967, there used to be a single election across the country. People would go and vote for Lok Sabha members and Vidhan Sabha members on the same day. There was never any confusion or lack of clarity among the electorate,” said Badal.
“It is only after some of the state governments destabilised that the system started falling apart and elections in states began to be held separately from the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
According to Badal, if simultaneous elections are held across the country, it will give enough time to elected governments to implement their vision and fulfil promises.
“There are months of (imposition of) Model Code of Conduct apart from the fact that the government has to remain busy in conducting the elections. It’s a waste of time, energy and resources. Over the years, security too has become a huge issue in elections and ensuring law and order becomes a herculean exercise while holding different elections in every state,” he said.
Badal also said it was a misconception that people would make the same choice for the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha if polls were held together.
“The electorate is not an uninformed set of people anymore. They know exactly what is going on. They know they have to make a choice between who is going to rule the country and who is going to rule the state. There have been multiple occasions where even when the elections were held together, people voted for different parties.”
Asked about a possible tie-up with the BJP for the forthcoming parliamentary polls, Badal brushed it aside as media speculation.
On Wednesday, Kovind as chairman of the high-powered committee held the fourth round of talks on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ issue. He met former judges and industry leaders to take their views on the matter. An official statement released last Sunday said the committee had received almost 21,000 responses from the public, in which more than 81 percent respondents had affirmed the idea of simultaneous elections in the country.
Suggestions had been sought from 46 political parties, of which 17 had responded, the statement further said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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