By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 5: The ‘One nation, one election’ proposal has evoked mixed response from state’s political leaders so far.
While earlier UDP general secretary Jemino Mawthoh welcomed the proposed one election idea, and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, too, spoke about the benefits of such a system being in place, albeit obliquely, Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh, on Tuesday, expressed opposite views.
According to Paul, in the context of a country as diverse as India, the ‘One nation, one election’ idea is questionable and not feasible. “In India, we have more than one time zone. How can you talk in terms of ‘one nation, one election’,” he remarked.
He maintained that the idea is difficult to implement in a diverse country like India, while emphasising on putting the saying ‘Unity in diversity’ into practice instead.
On the other hand, Congress MLA Saleng Sangma posed questions on the one election idea.
The minister opined that in a diverse country like India, the proposed move seems to be one of dictating the country.
He said that there are fears over the government possibly heading towards the idea of “one country, one language, one religion and one election”.
Sangma lamented that in the past, several central programmes have been organised in Meghalaya only on Sundays even though Meghalaya is a state with majority of Christians.
Although admitting that the move would save resources, Sangma however questioned what would happen to the states where elections have already been conducted this year.
