Bhubaneswar, September 11 : Prominent Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan has alleged that the central government’s promotion of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) initiative is primarily an attempt to delay the impending assembly elections in five states. The assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram are scheduled for later this year.
Bhushan voiced his concerns during a press conference held in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, asserting that ONOE is not feasible in India’s parliamentary democracy. He highlighted that in India’s system, a government can collapse midterm if it loses majority support, leading to the formation of a new government. Implementing ONOE would mean resorting to Presidential rule in such situations, which he contended is contrary to democratic principles.
He argued, “This implies a shift from a democratic system to a presidential rule system, which would represent a fundamental violation of parliamentary democracy. According to my assessment, the government is well aware of this and understands that numerous constitutional amendments would be necessary to transition to a presidential rule system.”
Bhushan further pointed out that the current government lacks a majority in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) and is fully aware of these complexities. Nevertheless, he claimed that the government introduced the ONOE concept with the sole objective of postponing the upcoming state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram, which are slated for later this year.
He alleged, “The BJP government is apprehensive of potential defeats in the forthcoming assembly elections in these five states. Hence, they intend to defer the assembly polls until the general elections in 2024 under the guise of ONOE, ultimately leading to the imposition of President’s Rule in these states.”
