Trinamool Congress chief (TMC) leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee writing to the high-level committee members expressed her dissent over the "One nation, One election" proposal on Thursday.
In her disagreement regarding the concept, the chief minister said that conducting Lok Sabha and state assembly polls simultaneously would be against the basic structure of India's constitutional arrangements.
In a letter to the panel secretary, Banerjee said that in 1952, the first general elections were simultaneously conducted at the central and state levels.
"There was such simultaneity for some years. But the coevality has since been ruptured" she said.
"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," she wrote.
"Non-simultaneous federal and state elections are a basic feature in the Westminster system which should not be altered. To paraphrase, non-simultaneity is part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitutional arrangements," the West Bengal chief minister said.
The high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind had written to political parties seeking their opinion on the matter.
Former President Ram Nath Kovind's panel on 'One Nation, One Election' has gathered over 5,000 public suggestions regarding simultaneous polls, as per sources.
The committee had recently sought input from the public to enhance the current legal and administrative framework for enabling simultaneous elections in the country.
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