'Historic step', says JD(S) on Cabinet accepting ''one nation, one election'' recommendation

Bengaluru: JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet’s decision accepting ‘one nation, one election’ recommendation as a “historic step” towards improving India’s electoral system.

He said the Janata Dal (Secular) welcomes the ‘one nation, one election’ system.

“A committee was formed under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The committee has submitted its report, and the Union Cabinet has approved it,” Kumaraswamy was quoted as saying by his office in a release.

Within the first 100 days of its third term in office, the Narendra Modi government has delivered on its election promise by taking this historic decision, he said.

Moving ahead with its “one nation, one election” plan, the government on Wednesday accepted a high-level panel’s recommendations for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise.

In its report submitted to the government in March, just before the general election was announced, the panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind had recommended implementing “one nation, one election” in two phases — simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in the first phase and elections for local bodies like panchayats and municipal bodies within 100 days of the general election in the second phase.

It also recommended a common electoral roll, which would need coordination between the Election Commission of India and state election commissions.