Know why Yashwant Sinha thinks One Nation, One Election will lead to dictatorship

Former BJP leader and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, known for his critical views on the Modi government, too had expressed his opinion on the "One Nation, One Election" idea on Sunday.

New Delhi, July 16: The Narendra Modi government at the Centre has once again mooted an idea--"One Nation, One Election, which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections across the country--that has left the political parties, politicians and the nation divided.

While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a few political parties that have openly supported "One Nation, One Election" by citing that the process would save money and time, others who opposed the idea fear that simultaneous elections across the country is simply impossible and against the democratic ethos of the country.

Former BJP leader and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, known for his critical views on the Modi government, too had expressed his opinion on the "One Nation, One Election" idea on Sunday.

The former finance minister has strongly opposed the idea and in a veiled manner cited that PM Modi wants to become a "dictator" by holding simultaneous elections.

Taking to Twitter, Sinha expressed fear that "One Nation, One Election" is the "surest guarantee of elected dictatorship".

"Simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha polls in our parliamentary democracy is the surest guarantee of elected dictatorship. One nation one poll is nothing but a slogan. It is completely impractical in a parliamentary democracy," Sinha wrote on Twitter.

In a scathing attack against the proposal to bring "One Nation, One Election" by the ruling BJP government at the Centre, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh last week said, "You have to suffer for five years if you have 'One Nation, One Election'."

At an event in the national capital on Friday, Ramesh said, "By supporting 'One Nation, One Election', you are denying yourself the ability to enforce some accountability of the executive. It is the debacle in successive elections in the last 12 months but has made the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi more aware of the concerns of farmers, unemployed, rural landless labour."

Like Ramesh, former vice president Hamid Ansari too had rejected the idea mooted by the BJP.

In an interview to News18, Ansari said, "India is a diverse land. To have the thought of one big country our size having one election is just an unworkable idea. You require security to move in multiple phases even during an Assembly election. So how are you going to provide security across the nation if polls were to be held simultaneously?"

Currently, the Law Commissioner is preparing a report on simultaneous elections after a discussion with various political parties.