A key National Democratic Alliance ally, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), is opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s formula of “One nation, one election”.
Tamil Nadu Minister C.V. Shanmugam and Rajya Sabha member A. Navaneethakrishnan submitted a memorandum on Wednesday on behalf of their party as they were not allowed inside the meeting which was only open to party presidents.
According to sources, the party, in a one-page memorandum, has argued that the formula is completely impractical. “If an Assembly dissolves, will you hold the Lok Sabha election too, just so that the two are synchronised? It’s simply not doable,” a top AIADMK leader who refused to be identified told The Hindu.
The AIADMK fought the Lok Sabha election in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu. Sources said they had opposed “One nation, one election” very politely. “We are not saying it’s unconstitutional or that it’s against federal values, but simply that it is impractical and disruptive,” the leader said.
Mr. Modi chaired a meeting of the heads of 21 parties on Wednesday for over four hours on the subject. After the initial round of consultations, the government announced that a committee would be constituted to carry out a detailed examination and chart out a road map for synchronising the State and general elections.
The AIADMK was tight-lipped about its position and did not publicly comment on it.
Thambidurai was for it
Earlier, senior AIADMK leader and former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2017 supporting the idea. He had even suggested that the system should be in place by 2024, and argued that it would save the government precious money, which could otherwise be utilised for welfare programmes.
The first elections to the Lok Sabha were held simultaneously with all State Assemblies in 1951-52. This practice continued in three subsequent general elections — 1957, 1962 and 1967.
The cycle was disrupted with the historic split of the Congress in 1969, leading to the premature dissolution of the Lok Sabha. Since then, the government has used Article 356 all too frequently prematurely, disrupting State Assemblies. The first victim was the Communist government under E.M.S. Namboodiripad in Kerala in 1959, which was sacked by the Congress using Article 356.