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The Congress party on Monday dismissed the 'one nation, one election' proposal as impractical and questioned the government’s reliance on “releasing hot air balloons” to gauge public opinion.

The criticism came after reports suggested that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government plans to implement 'one nation, one election' during its current term.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate stated, “You quoted government sources, but here I am as the official spokesperson of the Congress party, laying bare the many failures of the Modi government. How long is this government going to survive by leaking selective information? How long will it continue to turn a blind eye to the real and actual problems of this nation? How long will it persist in planting information and releasing these hot air balloons to test the waters? The reality is that there is no draft proposal, there has been no discussion, and the government has made no attempt to engage with us.”

Shrinate added, “It is absolutely not pragmatic to proceed in this manner, but the government needs to have a conversation. This approach of surviving on sources-based information and leaking it through news channels and WhatsApp must stop. It has been the norm for the last 100 days.”

Reports indicated that the NDA government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to introduce simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies during its current tenure. The plan, which was a key promise in the BJP’s election manifesto, has garnered confidence from government sources who believe it will receive cross-party support.

In March, a high-level panel led by former president Ram Nath Kovind recommended starting with simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.

The Law Commission is expected to propose simultaneous elections for all three tiers of government — Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and local bodies — beginning in 2029, along with provisions for a unity government in cases of a hung House or no-confidence motions.

The Kovind panel has suggested 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not require state assembly ratification but will need approval from Parliament. The panel has also proposed establishing an 'implementation group' to oversee the execution of its recommendations.