Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the One Nation, One Election initiative, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said that if it is truly BJP's intention to avoid expenses then, why does the BJP carry out so many rallies.

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He added that tomorrow the BJP will also question the need for an Election Commission (EC) in the country saying that a lot of expenditure is made on EC officers. "After the One Nation, One Election is implemented, they will point out that there is no need for the Election Commission and that a lot of money is spent on the EC officers. If One Nation, one Election gets implemented officers and workers will be brought through lateral entry, and they will be outsourced.

If they really want to save the expenses why does BJP conduct so many rallies?" said the SP chief. Meanwhile, many prominent leaders of the opposition parties slammed the centre over the One Nation, One Election initiative. Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh said that the BJP is a party of one nation, one corruption and one nation, one commission. He added that the BJP is running fake propaganda that a lot of money gets wasted in holding elections to evade accountability.

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar also opposed the Centre's move claiming that the Government wanted regional parties to stop existing. The Cabinet approved the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections, with urban body and panchayat polls to be held within 100 days. The High-level Committee on Simultaneous Elections, constituted under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu earlier this year. The government said that the report, comprising 18,626 pages, is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts, and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on September 2, 2023.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)