State's nod necessary for 'one nation, one election', says Kamal Nath

Amid reports of the Centre mulling over holding simultaneous elections, Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath said on Friday it is not possible to do so without taking the nod of state assemblies.

The Centre has tasked former president Ram Nath Kovind with the responsibility of heading a committee to explore the feasibility of one nation, one election, opening the possibility of Lok Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with upcoming assembly elections in many states, including MP.

There is a need for a constitutional amendment for it. Besides, it cannot be done by passing a bill in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but it also needs to be ratified by the state assemblies, Nath told reporters when asked about his views on the concept of simultaneous polls.

 

BJP-ruled states like Haryana and Maharashtra can pass a one-line resolution by the cabinet to dissolve their assemblies for holding elections with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan along with the Lok Sabha polls but what about (TMC-ruled) West Bengal? It is not possible to do so in every state, the former Union minister said.

The constitution of the panel headed by Kovind and the announcement of a special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22 have triggered speculation that the BJP-led Centre is mulling over advancing Lok Sabha polls to hold them with the year-end assembly polls due in five states.

On the distribution of party tickets for assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Nath said the first list will be issued soon, but still we have hinted to those to whom we wanted to.

Last month, the ruling BJP announced a list of 39 candidates as part of its strategy to win the maximum number of seats in the MP elections.

Asked if their rival party leaders are keen to join Congress ahead of the polls, Nath claimed that many BJP leaders, including supporters of Scindia are in touch with him. However, they will be given entry to the party only after the local organisation gives its nod, he said.

The Congress under Nath had formed the government in MP after the 2018 polls, but it fell in 2020 when Jyotiraditya Scindia and several MLAs loyal to him switched over to the BJP. Scindia was later made the Union civil aviation minister.

Accusing the BJP government of indulging in corruption, Nath said, Today a person is either a victim of corruption or a witness to it in the state. There is a system of corruption from top to bottom. Madhya Pradesh has become a corrupt state in the country.

He claimed that letters relating to corruption are going viral every day and those getting affected due to it are reaching the doors of the chief minister's residence to end their lives.

On the issue of the government under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan doling out cash to women under its flagship Ladli Behna Yojna', Nath said he has been telling people that the government will remember them in the last four months only. But they are wise and very well understand these political stunts, he said.