Some guidelines of 'One Nation One Election' report 'flawed': Former CEC

With the government setting the ball rolling for simultaneous polls, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi has flagged concerns over the practicality and implications of the proposed move, saying some key recommendations are "flawed" as he emphasised the need for a debate in Parliament on these issues. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of a high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind for holding simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise. The move has sparked a national debate with opposition parties calling it impractical and a "cheap stunt" by the ruling BJP. The report on "One Nation One Election" claimed that more than 80 per cent of the 21,558 responses received supported the proposal. Quraishi termed several key recommendations in the report "flawed". He pointed out that the simultaneous elections would exclude Panchayat elections