'One Nation One Election' violates basic structure of Constitution that affirms federalism, says Udayanidhi Stalin
“The proposal violates the basic structure of the Constitution that affirms federalism,” he said, speaking at the sixth edition of the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL) here.
DMK's youth wing secretary and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin (PTI)
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The Union government’s plan to carry out the ‘One Nation-One Election’ (ONOE) process will be an assault on federalism in the country and is constitutionally unsustainable, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Thursday.
“The proposal violates the basic structure of the Constitution that affirms federalism,” he said, speaking at the sixth edition of the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL) here.
He said in such a system, if a State government falls due to parties switching alliances or loss of confidence, it must wait for alignment with the national cycle for the next poll. “This undermines Article 174 and violates the basic structure of federalism,” he said.
Udhayanidhi also strongly criticised the Centre’s move to carry out delimitation of Lok Sabha seats based on the latest operational census, which will have a significant impact on southern states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. “This is the reward for states which have effectively implemented population control programmes,” he commented.
If the new delimitation is implemented, Tamil Nadu and Kerala will lose their current representation in the Parliament. This seems to be a clear agenda to reduce the voice of the southern states, he said.
“We cannot and will not accept a system where the governor’s office is weaponised to undermine elected governments,” Udayanidhi added.
He said all parties of the INDIA bloc have already come out against the latest draft guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which recommends various measures on educational matters, including the appointment of vice-chancellors to universities.
