Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Saturday while participating in a discussion in the state assembly on the ‘One Nation One Election’ (ONOE) bill refused to make any comment on the issue.
Rio, who is heading the opposition-less United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government, said that it would be improper to make any comment on the ‘One Nation One Election’ since the bill is still being considered by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The Chief Minister highlighted various important action points which are to be taken after the bill is passed and the implications of it in terms of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
Rio also highlighted in length the simultaneous elections norm from the first general election in 1951 until 1967 and the 1967 onwards. He said that bills were based on the recommendations of an eight-member committee and further the committee had submitted its recommendations to the President.
Rio also rationalised the objective of the bill and said that elections have become expensive and time-consuming.
“During the election imposition of model code of conduct in several parts of the country that are poll-bound puts on hold the entire development programmes, causing disruption of normal public life, impact the functioning of services and also curtail the involvement of manpower from their core activities for deployment for prolonged periods for election duties,” he said.
The Chief Minister stated that after fierce debate in Parliament, the Lok Sabha Speaker forwarded the bills to the JPC consisting of 27 Lok Sabha and 12 Rajya Sabha members.
Rio added that the JPC has met twice to discuss the feasibility of the implementation of the Bill, however, the final recommendation is yet to be made. Opposing the ‘One Nation One Election’ bill, Naga People’s Front MLA Achumbemo Kikon stated that the initiative greatly concerns the Nagas and that the introduction of the same would defeat the federal structure laid down by the Indian Constitution.
India is being one of the most diverse countries in the world with multiple ethnicities and diverse history, a one-size-fits-all approach is only wishful thinking and a detriment to the democratic features of the country, he said.
Kikon, also the Secretary General of NPF, emphasised that most of the countrymen live in rural areas where regional parties play a crucial role in the electoral process by addressing the local issues and that the introduction of ONOE would sideline these issues as national parties would mostly address issues of national interest.
He is apprehensive that the use of money, power and government machinery by the national parties will also be rampant if ONOE is implemented.
Speaking on the matter of election expenditure, Kikon said that the reduction in the cost cannot be at the cost of federalism but instead stringent measures should be taken up for regulation of the same.
He argued that while countries like South Africa, Sweden and Belgium have been successful in practising ONOE, implementing the same in India would prove to be a difficult task due to the large population of the country and the complex party-list Proportional System used alongside ONOE.
The NPF leader said that ONOE is a far-fetched reality for Indian electorates for now, and a time will surely come when ONOE will be necessary.
Kikon also reminded the house that the introduction of ONOE would lead to a one-party rule akin to a communist government which would invite chaos and threaten Indian democracy.
The NPF is a constituent of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) led UDA government, in which BJP is a partner.
The sixth session of the 14th Nagaland Assembly began on March 3 and Assembly Speaker Sharingain Longkumer on Saturday adjourned the session Sine Die.
(IANS)
