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Retired Lok Sabha secretary-general Subhash C. Kashyap, who on Saturday was named by the government as a member of the high-level committee on simultaneous elections, had spoken in favour of the idea in 2021, calling it “unexceptionable”.
Kashyap, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2015, participated in a webinar on the topic of “one nation, one poll” organised by the BJP on January 10, 2021, as per a statement by then-party spokesperson Nupur Sharma. According to the BJP statement, Kashyap pointed out the Opposition’s criticism of the idea of holding simultaneous elections, but also cited several reports that had recommended them. The BJP statement said Kashyap had contributed extensively to the Law Commission’s Draft Report on simultaneous elections in 2018.
“He further said the fear and opposition is usually political wherein regional parties from several states feel local issues will get diluted with national issues. However, citing various reports published by multiple commissions Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap called the need to have simultaneous elections ‘unexceptionable’,” the BJP statement said.
Kashyap, 94, had joined Parliament in 1953 and retired after serving as Lok Sabha secretary-general from December 31, 1983 to August 20, 1990. In his post-retirement years, he has been associated with the Centre for Policy Research as an honorary research professor and was a member of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution that was formed in 2000. An author of several books on Parliament and Constitution, Kashyap has written about political reforms in research papers and the opinion pages of newspapers.
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