Hyderabad: The ‘one nation, one poll’ proposal is against the parliamentary system and will lead to a presidential form of governance, contends TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy.
“This is inimical to the interests of the states and south India, especially, will lose out in such a scenario,” said the Lok Sabha member, while speaking to the media here on Sunday.
“The BRS should come clean on its stand on the move. Having nine members in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha, it should make its stand clear. The BJP cannot pass the one nation, one poll Bill in the Rajya Sabha without the support of regional parties. The BRS had stood by the BJP and supported demonetisation, GST, three farm laws and the president and vice-president polls.”
He said the silence of the BRS on simultaneous polls was marked, and is indicative of favouring the NDA on this issue.
“Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had written to B.S. Chauhan, chairman, Law Commission of India, on July 6, 2018, stating: ‘TRS is strongly in favour of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies. As I am very busy with my pre-scheduled engagements, I am deputing B. Vinod Kumar, Lok Sabha member, on my behalf to participate in the interactions and convey our views and suggestions before the commission’,” Reddy recalled.
Expressing apprehension that the Centre might try to delay the elections in various states, Reddy said, “Simultaneous polls are against democracy and we are not in favour of it even if it benefits national parties like ours. The nation has changed a lot from the early days of the republic and regional parties, espousing interests of the people, have come up. In a presidential form of government, the cabinet is rendered powerless. Why did Rao advance Assembly polls in 2018 if he is in favour of simultaneous polls?”
Citing various survey reports, the Congress leader said, “The BJP is worried by the better showing of an opposition party in Telangana. We are also ahead in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.”
The BJP says it is for one nation, one poll, one tax but it actually stands for one person and one party. They are trying to take issues in the concurrent list into their hands thereby reducing the autonomy of states, he said.
Asked why the BRS, a regional outfit, would compromise on the autonomy of states, the TPCC chief said, “The party is worried about saving the illegal wealth of 'one lakh crore amassed by them along with 10,000 acres of land they have encroached around Hyderabad.”
“The argument of poll expenses is also not valid as we spend just '15,000 crore once in five years, which is a pittance when our annual budget is '30 lakh crore. By forming a committee under the leadership of Ramnath Kovind, the Centre has belittled the status of the office of the country’s president,” Reddy said.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Boya community gave a representation to him and sought their inclusion in the ST list. Finding fault with Rao for failing to make a person from the caste an MLC, he assured them that the party would give them either a MLA seat or a MLC berth. Many leaders from Bomraspet mandal of the Kodangal Assembly constituency joined the Congress on the occasion.
