Siddu moots resolution against single election Bill

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday came down heavily against the Centre over the Union Cabinet clearing the “One Nation, One Election” Bill. Terming the move authoritarian, he said that the State government would consider passing a resolution against the Bill after consulting with the Congress high command. “The Union Cabinet’s approval of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill is not only an assault on Parliamentary democracy and the federal structure of India but also a sinister conspiracy to curb the rights of states. At a time when the current electoral system is in dire need of reforms, such a Bill will only weaken the foundations of democracy further. Before approving such a critical Bill, the Modi government should have consulted opposition parties and state governments. However, true to its authoritarian tendencies, the BJP-led central government is trying to impose this undemocratic proposal on the country,” Siddaramaiah posted on the social media site X (previously Twitter). “The Kerala government has already passed a resolution opposing the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal and has communicated its dissent to the Centre. If needed, our government will also consult the Congress High Command and adopt a similar resolution to send a strong message against this anti-democratic move,” he added.

The CM said that the fundamental flaw with the Bill was that it didn’t provide a solution for cases wherein a government loses majority and elections become necessary. “This proposal provides no solutions to the crises that arise when the ruling party loses its majority in the Lok Sabha or State Assemblies. In such situations, the only democratic remedy is to conduct fresh elections. Allowing a minority government to continue in power despite losing confidence would be nothing short of treachery against democracy,” Siddaramaiah said.

“For the implementation of such a flawed electoral system, amendments to the Representation of the People Act and at least five key provisions of the Constitution would be required. Moreover, the current Election Commission lacks the capacity and resources to conduct simultaneous elections across the entire country,” he added.

BJP MLAs storm Speaker's chamber over conduct in K'taka Assembly

Tensions flared in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday as BJP MLAs barged into Speaker U T Khader's chamber, expressing strong objections to his handling of the proceedings. The confrontation came amidst heated debates over the recent police lathi charge on Panchamasali Lingayat protesters, with the ruling Congress and opposition BJP trading accusations.

The issue arose when Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar, himself a leader of the Panchamasali Lingayat community, criticized the decision of previous BJP government to scrap the 4 per cent Muslim reservation and reallocate it equally between the Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities. He alleged that the BJP government, under Basavaraj Bommai, had backtracked on its decision by assuring the Supreme Court it would not implement the reservation changes. “For the sake of elections, they announced reservations, but later told the Supreme Court they wouldn't go ahead with it,” Kashappanavar said.

BJP members objected, insisting that the discussion focus solely on the police action during Tuesday's protests, where the Panchamasali Lingayat community demanded inclusion in the 2A category of the OBC reservation matrix (15%), as opposed to the current 3B category (5%). The protests turned violent earlier this week, with stone pelting from demonstrators.