Kejriwal opposes simultaneous polls, demands 'one nation, one education' system
Rewa (MP) (PTI): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday opposed the concept of 'one nation, one election' and said the country needs frequent polls as this allows political parties to go before electors regularly with promises which will not be the case if voting takes places just once in five years.
The Delhi Chief Minister said what the country needs is 'one nation, one education (equal education for all) and 'one nation, one treatment' (rich or poor, equal treatment for all).
"Never allow them (BJP) to implement 'one nation, one election' system in the country as it is only during polls that political parties take care of people and promise them to give everything, even the moon if they ask for it. They talk to you very sweetly (during elections)," Kejriwal said, addressing a public meeting at Rewa, the main town of Madhya Pradesh's Vindhya region.
The AAP leader said if all elections are held simultaneously, political leaders will go before voters just 6 months before polls.
"If this concept of one nation, one elections is implemented, then political party leaders will roam around London, Paris and other places abroad for four-and-a-half years and will come to you just before elections," he said.
"The AAP believes elections should be held every month and instead of one nation, one election, one nation, one education and one nation, one treatment system should be implemented in the country, Kejriwal said.
The Centre has set up an eight-member high-level committee to examine and make recommendations on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.
Children of rich as well as the poor should get the same quality of education and people should get the same type of "ilaaz" (medical treatment) irrespective of their social status, said the Delhi CM.
He criticized the BJP for efforts to change the name of India to Bharat after opposition parties formed the INDIA alliance to take on the saffron party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
"Tomorrow if we keep our name as Bharat, will they change it also?" he asked.
The AAP is part of the INDIA alliance, a bloc of more than two dozen parties.
The rally was also addressed by Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
