NEW DELHI: Days after declining to serve on the government appointed 7-member committee formed under former President Ram Nath Kovind to discuss how to implement the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said he was approached to be on the panel by an official, not a minister, and denied having ever agreed to be a part of it.
Chowdhury told TOI that he was approached over phone late in the evening of August 31 by PK Mishra, principal secretary to PM Narendra Modi, when he was in Jalpaiguri. Mishra informed him about the government’s intention to form a committee on simultaneous polls, he said. Chowdhury said he asked Mishra to have all the relevant documents regarding the committee and its mandate sent to his official residence, where he would peruse them before taking any decision.
He also expressly denied having consented to be on the committee, adding that it was odd that a PMO official rather than a minister reached out to him with the offer.“Nobody from the government has the guts or gumption to come out and refute what I am saying,” he said.
Soon after the panel was notified, Congress had criticised the idea with both party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi describing the proposal as an assault on democracy and the federal structure. The party also opposed the exclusion Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, from the panel.
Reinforcing the party’s objections to the proposal, Congress’ organisation general secretary KC Venugopal said any attempt to hold simultaneous elections was a “clear attack on the federal structure and parliamentary democracy”, and added that INDIA parties will work on a common strategy to counter the government’s move.Congress’ communications chief Jairam Ramesh also underscored the impossibility of implementing ‘one nation, one election’ without amending the Constitution, for which he said arriving at a consensus is a necessary precondition.
Chowdhury told TOI that he was approached over phone late in the evening of August 31 by PK Mishra, principal secretary to PM Narendra Modi, when he was in Jalpaiguri. Mishra informed him about the government’s intention to form a committee on simultaneous polls, he said. Chowdhury said he asked Mishra to have all the relevant documents regarding the committee and its mandate sent to his official residence, where he would peruse them before taking any decision.
He also expressly denied having consented to be on the committee, adding that it was odd that a PMO official rather than a minister reached out to him with the offer.“Nobody from the government has the guts or gumption to come out and refute what I am saying,” he said.
Soon after the panel was notified, Congress had criticised the idea with both party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi describing the proposal as an assault on democracy and the federal structure. The party also opposed the exclusion Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, from the panel.
Reinforcing the party’s objections to the proposal, Congress’ organisation general secretary KC Venugopal said any attempt to hold simultaneous elections was a “clear attack on the federal structure and parliamentary democracy”, and added that INDIA parties will work on a common strategy to counter the government’s move.Congress’ communications chief Jairam Ramesh also underscored the impossibility of implementing ‘one nation, one election’ without amending the Constitution, for which he said arriving at a consensus is a necessary precondition.