High Level Committee (HLC) on One Nation One Election Chaired by Ram Nath Kovind held personal interactions with representatives of three political parties on holding of simultaneous elections in the country on Tuesday, the Ministry of Law and Justice informed. the panel met with representatives from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Communist party of India (Marxist), CPI(M) and Samajwadi Party.

All parties asserted their opposition of simultaneous elections.

During the meeting, TMC was represented by Members of Parliament Sudip Bandopadhyay and Kalyan Bandopadhyay who reiterated the views of the party that the proposal is anti-democratic and against the spirit of the Indian Constitution. Party chief Mamata Banerjee had

The three-member delegation of CPI(M) comprised of Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, Nilotpal Basu, Member Politburo and Muralidharan, Member, Central Secretariat who too conveyed its stand on the issue of One Nation One Election. The party had earlier registerd its strong protest at the constitution of the HLC, “whose agenda and purpose is pre-decided and pre-destined.”

“… such a proposal is inherently anti-democratic and negates the principles of federalism which is a fundamental feature of our Constitution”, CPI(M) had stated.

The Samajwadi Party was represented by KK Shrivastava and Harishchandra Singh Yadav at the meeting where they reiterated its fears that simultaneous elections may lead to major gains for national parties while state-level parties are likely to suffer losses.

The High Level Committee also held consultations with representatives of industries on One Nation One Election that was attended by a delegation of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI).

During the meeting, FICCI made a presentation before the HLC where it supported the concept of One Nation One Election, as multiple elections at various levels adversely impacts the ease of doing business and leads to a slowing down in decision making. FICCI further suggested that savings of expenditure from holding Simultaneous Elections in the Country can be utilized for government spending to further promote economic growth and livelihood generation.