A day after the High Level Committee, headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, recommended Simultaneous Elections in its report submitted to President Draoupadi Murmu, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has reiterated its opposition to the concept, stating that it will “usher in a centralized authoritarian political system in the country.”
CPI (M) stated that the 18 Constitutional amendments and the steps proposed by the Committee to lead to ‘One Nation, One Election’ are “retrograde” and will amount to “truncating the parliamentary democratic system and the right of the people to elect a government for a five year term.” It will also enhance the powers of the Central government vis-à-vis the states, it said.
The Party stated that the proposal to shorten the tenures of state assemblies, whose elections are held after the 18th Lok Sabha elections, so that these state assembly elections can be held along with the 19th Lok Sabha polls would mean that the state assemblies of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, following elections in 2026, will see their tenure shortened by more than half the full term.
Further, CPI (M) said that uniform electoral rolls for all three levels and simultaneous elections of the local bodies of all the states will mark a centralization which goes against the very principle of the decentralized system of panchayats and local bodies.
Based on these concerns, the Party also appealed all democratic organisations and citizens to unitedly oppose this “undemocratic” proposal.
