The Aam Aadmi Party asserted on Saturday that the concept of simultaneous elections in India could pose a threat to the essence of parliamentary democracy and the fundamental structure of the Constitution. According to the party, managing hung legislatures and the potential exacerbation of anti-defection challenges would be significant hurdles under such a system.
In a statement on Saturday, the AAP said, 'One nation, One election' will damage the idea of parliamentary democracy, the basic structure of the Constitution, and the federal polity of the country. It is unable to deal with hung legislature, will actively encourage the evil of anti-defection and open buying-selling of MLAs and MPs."
The remarks of the AAP, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, came a day after the Congress, also part of the same grouping, strongly opposed the idea of holding simultaneous elections in the country, saying it goes against the guarantees of federalism and the basic structure of the Constitution.
AAP added that the cost sought to be saved by holding simultaneous elections is a mere 0.1 per cent of the Central government's annual budget.
The AAP further stated that the tenets of the Constitution and democracy cannot be sacrificed for "narrow financial gains" and administrative convenience.
Before the Congress and AAP opposed the “One nation, One election” policy, TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her dissent over the same, writing to a Kovind-led high-level committee.
“There was such simultaneity for some years. But the coevality has since been ruptured. I regret that I cannot agree with the concept of 'One Nation, One Election', as framed by you. We disagree with your formulation and proposal”, said the TMC leader.
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