Raghav Chadha slams Centre over Adhir Chowdhury’s appointment in ‘One nation, one election’ panel

Chadha wrote, "So, apparently, getting an MP's prior consent before appointing them to a high-level committee is now optional?"

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha questioned the Centre for not taking the Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s “prior consent” before appointing him member to the ‘One Nation, One Election’ high-level committee.

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), Chadha wrote, “So, apparently, getting an MP’s prior consent before appointing them to a high-level committee is now optional?” “It’s not like there’s any precedent for suspending MPs for merely suggesting names lawfully, right?” the AAP MP added, posting a letter written by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to Union Home Minister Amit Shah in which he has declined the invitation, saying he does not seek to be a part of a committee whose terms of reference have been formed in a way that will conclude in favour of the BJP.

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In a letter written to Amit Shah, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “I have no hesitation in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusion. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash.” “Moreover, the sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible, and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation months before the general elections raises serious concerns about the government’s ulterior motives,” Adhir wrote.

“Furthermore, I find that the current LOP in the Rajya Sabha has been excluded. This is a deliberate insult to the system of parliamentary democracy. In these circumstances, I have no option but to decline your invitation,” the Congress leader added.

The government on Friday formed an eight-member committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to examine and make recommendations at the earliest on the issue of holding simultaneous polls in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, municipalities, and panchayats.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former leader of opposition Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission NK Singh, former Lok Sabha general secretary Subash Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve, and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari will be members of the committee. Minister of State (law) Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the high-level committee as a special invitee.

The development comes as the Centre on Wednesday called for a five-day special session in Parliament between September 18 to September 22. The agenda of the special session is unknown, but speculations are rife that the Centre is likely to bring the “One nation, one election” bill, while Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said on Sunday that “PM Modi has called for a special session of the parliament in the ‘Amrit Kaal’ to discuss China’s occupation of India’s land and the publication of the map of the newly occupied part”. He said, “Discuss China in the special session without any fear. We will support the government in this discussion.”