BJP Media Blitzkrieg Costlier than EC Spending on Polls: CPI (ML)

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BJP Spends More Media than EC’s Lok Sabha Poll Cost: CPI (ML)

By Raisina Correspondent

New Delhi, December 18: The Lok Sabha debate on ‘One Nation, One Election Bill’ was cut short by the government decision to propose sending the legislative proposal to the joint parliamentary committee (JPC). But the Opposition continues to argue that the bill has been rushed with hurried manner on flawed premises.

The government’s principal argument is that simultaneous elections will cut down on costs of holding polls. There is no clearcut assessment on savings for the exchequer on holding simultaneous elections in the country.

Also Read: One Nation, One Election nod invites opposition wrath

But the CPI (ML) in a statement said that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spends more money on media blitzkrieg than the total expenditure of the Election Commission of India in holding the Lok Sabha elections.

“One Nation, One Election (ONOE) Bill is undemocratic. This pet idea of the BJP undermines the basic spirit of democracy and federalism that constitutes the lifeblood of the Constitution,” said the CPI (ML) in a media statement. The Opposition’s principal attack on the government against the introduction of the bill was that it will undermine federalism.

“Today, in the name of ‘One Nation, One Election’, the BJP wants to set the political clock back and enforce a regimentation of the polity through constitutional amendments. Assembly and Parliament elections have their own specific contexts as do the panchayat and municipal elections,” added the CPI (ML) in the media statement.

Also Read: BJP manifesto spotlights one nation one election uniform civil code

The Left outfit also argued that “clubbing elections together for logistical considerations will mean stripping Assembly elections of their autonomous domain and making them subordinated to the central context”. “The assumption that holding simultaneous elections would make for logistical convenience and financial savings is not backed by any credible study or analysis of election expenses or logistical arrangements,” added the CPI (ML) in the statement.

The Left party also cited the Law Commission’s 2018 draft report on simultaneous elections, quoting that about ₹3586 crores was the cost incurred by the ECI on the 2014 elections. “To put this in perspective, since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, the Union government has spent ₹3,260.79 crore on advertising in electronic media and ₹3,230.77 crore on advertising in print media,” added the CPI (ML) in the media statement.

The Left party also stated that “the wide-ranging amendments to the Constitution to facilitate simultaneous elections, the entire ONOE proposal attempts to play down the right to vote, and the right to elect in Indian jurisprudence”. “Parliamentary democracy, multi-party system and free and fair elections are all part of the basic structure of the Constitution,” added the CPI (ML) in the media statement.

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