Congress leader Milind Deora supports 'one nation, one poll', says bold ideas rarely get bipartisan support

Milind Deora, president of the Mumbai committee of Indian National Congress (INC), has extended support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious “one nation, one election” proposal saying bold ideas rarely get bipartisan support in India.

Terming it his personal opinion, Deora said lack of bipartisanship is hurting India's prospects and preventing it from freeing itself from the clutches of archaic precedents and systems.  

"India's 70-year electoral journey has taught us that the Indian voter can differentiate between state and central polls. Our democracy is neither fragile nor immature and debate of one nation-one poll calls for an open mind on either side of spectrum," Milind Deora said in a Twitter statement. 

My personal views on the ongoing #OneNationOneElection debate pic.twitter.com/dUxP5BeJ80

— Milind Deora (@milinddeora) June 19, 2019

Deora, who recently lost Lok Sabha Elections, said that being in continuous election mode is a roadblock to good governance. 

"As a former Member of Parliament and someone who has contested four elections, I believe that being in continuous election mode is a roadblock to good governance, distress politicians from addressing real issues and adds populism to the character of governance which is not necessarily a long-term solution to some of the gravest problems Indians face," the statement issued by him reads. 

The remarks come on a day when the Congress party skipped the PM Modi's meet to discuss the 'one nation, one election' proposal. Besides the Congress, leaders of many other opposition parties are also likely to skipped the meeting called by the prime minister. 

Among the notable absentees were Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, DMK's M K Stalin, TDP chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.    

NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar, SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik and National People's Party leader Conard Sangma were among those who attended the meeting at the Parliament House library building.

The government think-tank, NITI Aayog, had last year suggested synchronised two-phase Lok Sabha and Assembly polls from 2024 to ensure minimum campaign-mode disruption to governance.