Chennai, Sep 1 (PTI) The ruling DMK on Friday opposed the proposal to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, to examine which a committee has been set up by the union government.
Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition party and an ally of the BJP, the AIADMK, supported the proposal.
After the Centre constituted the panel to explore the feasibility of “one nation, one election”, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said on X, “one nation, one election is against the interests of the country.” Ever since the idea was mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the DMK has all along been opposing it as part of its Dravidian ideology of good governance.
Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami said his party strongly advocated the proposal as it would escalate the speed of our country’s development and avoid political instability.
“Simultaneous elections will save time, colossal cost and give longer uninterrupted period of governance to implement policies effectively for any elected government both federal & state,” the AIADMK chief said in a post on X.
The process would strengthen federalism and might lead to better voter turnout and democratic participation.
“If One Nation One Election electoral process is implemented, development will be the main focus of governance rather than populist schemes announced mid-way just for the sake of winning elections.” Palaniswami hoped that the committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind would take a “strong & swift decision” in favour of our country’s development.
Headed by Kovind, the committee is tasked by the Centre with exploring the feasibility of simultaneous polls, opening up the possibility of Lok Sabha elections being advanced so that they could be held with a string of state assembly contests. PTI VGN VGN ROH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.