Adhir declines poll panel membership; ‘Total eyewash…govt has ulterior motives’

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, September 2: Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declined to be part of the panel on one nation, one election. He charged that the members of the panel have been chosen to help in reaching the conclusions, while trashing the idea of one nation, one election as impractical.

In a letter to Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, Chowdhury said that he got to know of him in the panel headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind from the media after the publication of the Gazette notification. Ironically, Chowdhury’s claims means that the government didn’t even consult him before including in the panel headed by ex-President. Also, Chowdhury had been suspended from the Lok Sabha for his metaphorical remarks against the prime minister, which was revoked only two days ago.

Chowdhury in his letter wondered why the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (Mallikarjuna Kharge) was not included in the panel, which has been mandated to give a report at the earliest as per the gazette notification.

The panel headed by Kovind also includes Shah, Harish Salve, Ghulam Nabi Azad, NK Singh, Subhash Kashyap, and Sanjay Kothari. The gazette notification made a special mention of the 170^th report of the Law Commission which argued for reverting back to the simultaneous elections in the country, while also setting the backdrop by stating that the polls were held together in the country till 1967. The notification also mentioned the department related parliamentary standing committee’s 79^th report which called for two-phase holding of the simultaneous elections in the country.

Meanwhile, Chowdhury in his letter to Shah charged that the term of reference of the committee has been so framed as to reach to “guarantee its conclusion”. “It is, I’m afraid, a total eyewash,” wrote Chowdhury in the letter to Shah.

The Congress leader in the Lok Sabha also questioned the motive of the government, calling it ulterior for pushing the idea of one nation, one election just months before the Lok Sabha elections. He also stressed that the idea is unimplementable, logistically not possible and impractical.