It's for the legislature to decide, says CEC Kumar on ‘One Nation, One Election’

New Delhi, Nov 10: A decision regarding 'One Nation, One Election,' is for the legislature to decide, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said. This involves a lot of logistics and a whole lot of disruption, but this is in the regime of the legislative and hence it is for the legislature to decide, Kumar also said.

It is not within the remit and mandate of the commission but if it definitely does it and we have conveyed our position that administratively the commission can handle it but it is in the legislative regime, Kumar also said.

"According to the Constitution, all the elections should be held simultaneously. The parliament elections that are held since independence, all three of them are simultaneous elections. It is only later that sometimes the Assembly was dissolved, sometimes parliament, which disturbed the schedule. One Nation One Election is a good suggestion but this needs a change in the constitution," former chief election commissioner, Sushil Chandra had said in an exclusive interview with ANI.

An assembly which will not be able to complete the 5-year term in the Assembly will have to think about whether we can abolish it under the Constitution or we need to increase the tenure of parliament for simultaneous election in the country, he had also said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on numerous occasions pitched for the One Nation One Election. He had spoken about it in his sixth address to the nation on August 15. The same was also endorsed by President Ram Nath Kovind during his customary address to a the joint sitting of Parliament after the beginning of the second term of PM Modi.