'One nation, one election' not practical; BJP's bid to divert attention: Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said ‘one nation, one election’ is not practical and alleged that the BJP comes up with such things to divert attention from real issues when elections approach.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made the assertion as the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for ‘one nation, one election’ as recommended by the Kovind panel.

The panel headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind had submitted the report in March ahead of the announcement of Lok Sabha elections. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the report was approved unanimously by the Cabinet.

Asked about the issue, Kharge said at a press conference here, “It is not practical. It will not work. When elections come, and they are not getting any issues to raise, then they divert attention from real issues.”

Senior Congress leader T S Singhdeo said, “It is only a strategy of political convenience, and what I can see is nothing beyond that. The same party which is governing the country as part of the NDA has been talking about this for the past few years.”

“You see their intent. Had they really been proponent of this view that this will be a great benefit to the country and the society…what attempt did they make to ensure that Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections take place at the same time,” he said.

Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat said the BJP has realised that they will lose elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

“After losing one state after another, the BJP was not in a position to sustain that pressure that would’ve resulted in collapse of their coalition government. That’s why the rattled government has opted for ‘one nation, one election’ formula,” he said.

Placing the Kovind panel report before the Union Cabinet was a part of the law ministry’s 100-day agenda.

The high-level committee had recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.

The panel had also proposed setting up of an ‘Implementation Group’ to look into the execution of the recommendations made by the committee.

It also recommended the preparation of a common electoral roll and voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India in consultation with state election authorities.