Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin  appealed to all democratic forces to unite and fight “tooth and nail” against the simultaneous poll legislation “imposed in the garb of electoral reform”, and save India, its diversity and the Constitution. He claimed the BJP-led government at the Centre lacked majority to pass the critical legislation that threatened to alter India’s polity forever. “Yet, a brazen attempt is being made to settle scores and deflect attention from the BJP’s failures to address core issues affecting the country’s progress,” Stalin said in a post on social media platform ‘X’.

“#INDIA will resist the anti-federal & impractical ‘One nation one election’ as it will push the country into the perils of unitary form of governance, killing its diversity and democracy in the process,” he said. The Union BJP government, he said, sought to push it with an ulterior motive of conducting a presidential form of election, which is against the spirit of our Constitution.

“The proposed bill, if passed and implemented, will remove the legal checks and balances put in place in the form of periodic elections by the framers of our great Constitution to prevent the country from slipping into anarchy and totalitarianism,” he said. Also, state elections would lose their political significance and regional sentiments and diversity would be destroyed, Stalin further said.

“All the democratic forces must unite & fight tooth and nail against this abomination imposed in the garb of electoral reform, to save India, its diversity and the Constitution,” Stalin urged. A constitutional amendment bill for holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously is likely to be introduced in Parliament on Tuesday and could be referred to a joint committee of the two Houses.

The Union Cabinet last week decided to hold simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies but opted to leave “as of now” how local body polls are held.