Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamul Congress MP from Diamond Harbour and party’s national general secretary came down heavily on the BJP-led Centre and said the proposed One Nation One Election Bill is unconstitutional and will take away the voting rights of the people.

Mr Banerjee said, “When elections are held in phases, then the proposal of one nation one election is the biggest farce and is ludicrous.” He said Trinamul Congress will fight wholeheartedly against this draconian proposal that will take right from 140 crore people.

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“We will protest and will not allow the BJP to implement it,” he said.

He said the step-motherly attitude of the BJP towards Bengal has been reflected more than once. “In Kerala and Assam election was held in a day while in Bengal, it was held in eight phases in 2021 during the second phase of Covid. In 2024, LS election was held in seven phases.”

Mr Banerjee said a person has the right to vote from panchayat to Lok Sabha. “In 2021, the voters in Bengal voted for the Assembly election, in 2022 they voted during the municipal election, in 2023 they took part in the panchayat election, in 2024 they voted for the Lok Sabha election and during the by-elections. The people have the right to elect their candidates.”

Mr Banerjee said the proposed one nation, one election is unconstitutional. “You will have to change the constitution to implement it. Some day the BJP will say one nation one political party and then they will move one step further to say one nation one political leader.”

It may be mentioned that Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee had also criticised it and said her party would fight wholeheartedly against the proposal.”

On Bangladesh issue, Abhishek Banerjee said, “I have stated earlier as well that the Bengal government strongly condemns the continuous persecution of minorities in Bangladesh. The GoI should take a strict stance regarding this matter. The foreign secretary went there (for a meeting with Bangladesh) but they should come to the House and speak about the details of the discussions held there. The EAM should give a statement. This is the custom of the Parliament. If a minister goes for bilateral talks, they should come to the House and update the members regarding that. This is a part of parliamentary politics. This is a minimum courtesy every Member of the Parliament expects from the government. If they don’t want to do that and want to keep a population of 140 crore Indians in the dark, the people will understand the government’s dilemma here. The people will understand the government’s attempt to mislead them. They will give a befitting answer to it at the right time.”