Adhir declines offer to be part of committee for ‘one nation one election’

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday declined the invitation to be part of eight-member committee formed by the union government to examine the one nation one election concept.

The development comes after the Centre announced its eight-member committee to explore the option which aims to explore the move to hold simultaneous elections for local bodies, states, and the Centre.

In a letter, Chowdhury said, "I have just got to know through the media and a Gazette notification is appeared that I have been appointed as a Member of the High-Level Committee on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas."

"I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash. Moreover, the sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about ulterior motives of the government.

“Furthermore, I find that the current LOP in the Rajya Sabha has been excluded. This is a deliberate insult to the system of parliamentary democracy. In these circumstances, I have no option but to decline your invitation," he said.

His remarks came after the government formed a eight-member committee to examine one nation one election with former President Ram Nath Kovind as its chairman and Home Minister Amit Shah and others as its member.

It said that Kovind has been appointed as chairman of the committee while Shah, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Rajya Sabha LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad, and others have been appointed as the members of the committee.

Former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K Singh, former Secy General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap Senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief avigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari are the other names part of the eight member panel.

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