Simultaneous poll is 'unconstitutional', TN CM flays Centre

Chennai, Jan 18 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday flayed the BJP government at the Centre on the move to hold simultaneous election, and said this was only to create a situation for enforcing one election for the entire country.

He called upon the BJP's allies and all democratic forces to oppose the move and save the country and the Constitution.

"We should oppose one nation, one election plan of the BJP because it wants to bring one party rule in the country. The BJP government wants one religion, one language, one culture and uniform dress code, besides one cuisine. That's why it wants to thrust simultaneous polls on the nation," Stalin said addressing the third state conference of the DMK legal wing here.

The BJP wanted to destroy the states in order to establish one government at the Centre. "This is the BJP’s long term plans. It wants to thrust simultaneous polls intending to create a situation for a single poll for the entire nation. This will pave the way for unitary rule in the country," he said.

To go a step further, he would say that the move would lead to conferring powers on an individual, which is not good even for the BJP party. "This amendment would be useful to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi a dictator but it does not augur well for democracy," the Chief Minister, who is DMK president, said.

Speaking at the conference DMK senior and Tamil Nadu Forests Minister K Ponmudy said the Centre’s initiative of 'one nation, one election' was ‘unconstitutional’ and was being brought with a political motive.

Terming the move as an attempt to dispense with the five-year term of assemblies and downsizing the states to union territories, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said states will not be in the picture at all if one nation, one election law was enforced.

“It will destroy the very federal structure of our country. The preamble of the Constitution says that India is a union of states. You have diminished the states,.. you are destroying the basic structure of the state, and trying for one nation, one poll, one language, political party, one religion,” Sibal said during a discussion on the topic at the conference.

"The move amounts to destroying the essence of democratic functioning of our republic. Cronies support the idea without a national debate on it. I don't think the people of India and Tamil Nadu will tolerate it,” Sibal said and claimed that it would also affect the education, health and other state specific issues.

Replying to a question from T K S Elangovan, former MP, he said if this became a law, then the five-year term of 17 states will be truncated. But five-year term was the basic feature of the Constitution, he added.

Former CEC S Y Quraishi pointed 'with great anxiety' that what happened in Kashmir could happen anywhere. “With one stroke, Kashmir became a union territory. Can they not do it to Tamil Nadu tomorrow?” he asked.

Senior journalist N Ram said the Centre’s attempt should be seen in a wider context of ‘Hindutva authoritarianism’ and what the BJP government has done and was doing to institutions and to citizens' freedom.

“It is an assault on the diversity and pluralism of India and India's civilisation because we are multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-everything. It is an assault on federalism. It is to impoverish the diversity and pluralism of India that this plan is being worked out,” Ram said during a panel discussion.

Earlier, Ponmudy said he had faced several cases in the past including those filed with political motive during the erstwhile AIADMK regime under late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. "They filed a case against me for visiting a civil supplies godown and on then opposition leader and now Chief Minister M K Stalin and myself for visiting the Queen Mary's College," Ponmudy said at the conference.

But these cases were successfully won by meticulous presentation and sound arguments by the DMK advocates in the courts. “The DMK’s legal wing, especially senior advocate N R Elango, who has been handling my cases, should be appreciated for the good work,” he said.

Party General Secretary and Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan who inaugurated the conference at the St George's Anglo Indian School, said he studied law and began practise in his younger days but took to full-time politics.

“Like me Ponmudy and S Regupathy (state Law Minister) are advocates but they seldom go to courts. But, Ponmudy goes to the court to appear in his cases,” Duraimurugan said in a lighter vein.

He however, pointed out that there were dedicated advocates in the party who devoted their time and efforts in successfully handling the legal cases.

Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP, N R Elango, also spoke. PTI JSP JSP ROH