One nation, one poll: Adhir refuses to join Kovind-led 8-member panel
The committee will be headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind and will have Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and former finance commission chairman NK Singh as members.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (ANI)
NEW DELHI: The government on Saturday notified an eight-member high-level committee to examine and make recommendations at the earliest on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.
The committee will be headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind and will have Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and former finance commission chairman NK Singh as members.
Later in the night, in a letter to Amit Shah, Adhir Ranjan declined the offer.
“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,” he said.
The government notification said the panel will commence functioning immediately and make recommendations at the earliest, but did not specify a timeframe to submit the report.
The decision to have a committee under former president Kovind had on Friday caught opposition bloc INDIA, holding their conclave in Mumbai, by surprise and further raised the political heat.
The high-level committee will also have former Lok Sabha Secrertary General Subhash C Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari as members.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the committee as a special invitee, while Law Secretary Niten Chandra will be the secretary to the panel.
It will recommend specific amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act and other laws which would require amendments for the purpose of holding simultaneous elections. It has also been tasked to suggest a framework for synchronisation of elections and suggest timeframe within which simultaneous elections may be held if they cannot be held in one go...”
