As part of the consultation process with political parties, Former President of India and Chairman, High Level Committee (HLC) on One Nation One Election, Shri Ram Nath Kovind met a delegation of Lok Jan Shakti Party today at the Office of High Level Committee (HLC) at Jodhpur Officers’ Hostel, New Delhi comprising following members:
i. Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, President Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP);
ii. Prince Raj (Member of Parliament, Samastipur, Lok Sabha)
iii. Shri Sanjay Sarraf, Spokesperson, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP)
iv. Shri Ramji Singh, General Secretary, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP)
Initiating the discussion, Shri Paras committed his party’s complete support to the concept of One Nation One Election on the following grounds:
i. This will end a lot of superfluous and unnecessary expenditure incurred not only by the nation but also the political parties.
ii. Since the beginning of the electoral process, elections were always held simultaneously till a certain time, so there is no reason why it cannot be restored and synchronized now.
iii. It will save a lot of time for the government to devote to governance.
iv. Multiple elections also halt the development process because of imposition of the Model Code of Conduct.
v. Though initially, some sacrifices in terms of curtailment of terms of house/ government etc. might happen but this has to be undergone in the best national interest.
vi. The assemblies should have fixed terms notwithstanding the change of the Government or leader of the house. This will give security to the elected representatives that they can complete full term and thus devote themselves to the welfare of the people and development of their constituencies.
To a specific query from the Chairman that whether holding of local bodies elections together with parliament and assembly could result in violence, the leader of the delegation of Rashtriya Lok JanshaktiParty (RLJP) said, that this would not be the case, since deployment of Paramilitary Forces would have a deterring effect and help in conducting smooth polling.
The delegation submitted a written letter to the Chairman of the HLC on One Nation One Election enlisting the support of the party to One Nation One Election.
The meeting ended with the delegation assuring the Chairman that all support shall be extended by the party for implementation of holding of simultaneous elections.
************
SS/AKS
