A parliamentary committee on the One Nation, One Election bill heard economists and media. Economists broadly supported it to improve fiscal health and governance, while media views were mixed, with some raising concerns over accountability.
The Parliamentary committee looking into the One Nation, One Election Bill on Monday heard views of eminent economists and some senior media persons with Chairman PP Choudhary stating later that the legislation providing for simultaneous polls is in national interest.
Economists Endorse Simultaneous Polls
Sources said the economists broadly supported ONOE legislation. They said Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran highlighted that due to continuous and frequent elections, fiscal allocation is focused on revenue expenditure rather than capital expenditure.
The sources said some economists talked of “policy paralysis” due to frequent elections and said ONOE will allow members to focus their time and energy on governance matters, rather than continuous campaigning. Vivekananda International Foundation Chairman S Gurumurthy is learnt to have said that frequent elections impact the federal structure and ONOE will strengthen the federal structure of the country. He is also learnt to have said that continuous elections lead to administrative strain, and constant campaign demands that trap national leaders while exhausting opposition bandwidth. He added that frequent polls also replace voluntary cadres with paid workers and vote-buying. Sources said he highlighted that international studies also emphasize that democracies suffer disruption during elections, and the exercise of elections should not be repeated every year.
Media Presents Divergent Views
The sources said that prominent media personalities had differing opinion on ONOE. However, they suggested revisiting the powers given to ECI in the bill. A senior journalist is learnt to have said there are a few pressing issues which must be considered before ONOE is brought and also referred to culture of freebies before polls.
Two prominent journalists expressed reservations over ONOE and said the Indian democracy flourishes due to continous elections. They are also learnt to have said that elections allow for accountability from the government representatives regularly.
Another senior journalist is learnt to have said that simultaneous elections will allow for a better differentiation between state and national issues, allow the government to focus its efforts towards governance and the media to present the common people’s issues and concerns more robustly.
‘Vision in National Interest’: Panel Chairman
Choudhary said the panel will hold consultations with more stakeholders. “If the One Nation, One Election concept is implemented—where Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections are held simultaneously once every 5 years, with exceptions made only in the rarest of cases (such as no-confidence motions or by-elections)—I believe every Member of Parliament and MLA would be able to focus entirely on the proceedings of their respective legislative bodies,” he said later.
“Therefore, I am of the view that Prime Minister Modi’s vision of One Nation, One Election is in the national interest. Having listened to various people, we truly realised the importance of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ concept—specifically, holding Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections simultaneously,” (ANI)
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