On election, one party.

"The government on Saturday (yesterday) announced the committee for 'One Nation, One Election' which will explore the possibility of simultaneous elections in the country. The chairman of the committee is former President Ram Nath Kovind." TOI. Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury refused to have anything to do with it. "I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash," he said. Absolutely. While the proposal is couched in pious intentions, a lot of us have doubts as to the motives of the BJP. Perhaps, members of the BJP think that the party can win the parliament and the assemblies of all the states which will mean lucrative ministerial posts for many of them. "About 80 percent of Indians have a favorable view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and about seven in 10 believe their country has recently become more influential, according to a survey by PEW Research Center." NDTV. But why now? Why the indecent hurry? The general election must be completed by May 2024 (wikipedia) when the 5-year term of this government expires. The next government will have a full 5 years to debate and implement changes. "The Centre, in a tweet by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, called for a five-day special session of Parliament from September 18th to the 22nd. The agenda for this special session, however, was not revealed." HT. Since the committee cannot complete its work in two weeks, is the government planning to postpone the general election to give it more time? Some members think so. ET. In a research paper, "Democratic Backsliding in the World's Largest Democracy", former professor at Ashoka University Sabyasachi Das found that in closely contested seats, the BJP won disproportionately more seats than the opposition, thus fulfilling McCrary test for manipulation of election results. Das was forced to resign and Prof Pulapre Balakrishnan also resigned in support. TOI. Having elections to all the states together with that of the Parliament will make manipulation easier. Perhaps in anticipation, "Some months after the court (Supreme Court) ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners should be made on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the government introduced a bill in the Rajya Sabha that seeks to replace the CJI with a cabinet minister on the selection panel." DH. So election commissioners will be government puppets. Terrifyingly, "A report by Financial Times has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is spying on its citizens by buying powerful surveillance tools from Israeli tech companies such as Cognyte and Septier." Mint. Is India to become a one-party state, with Modi as prime minister for life and any protest ruthlessly snuffed out through total surveillance of the population? Like China? Strangely, and extremely sadly, not one BJP member has resigned, or even disagreed, with these nefarious plans. No decency, no morals, no patriotism, no self respect. Just unbridled greed. Pathetic.