Bengaluru: P P Chaudhary, Chairman of the JPC on ‘One Nation, One Election,’ said on Saturday that holding State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously is in the country’s best interest.
He said that if this shared system is successfully implemented, the country will have a stable framework for the next 100 years.
“‘One Nation, One Election’ must be implemented. Holding State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections at the same time is in the country’s best interest,” he told reporters.
Voting won’t take place on single day but in phases: JPC chief
He clarified that ‘One Nation, One Election’ does not mean all voting will take place on a single day. Instead, elections will be held in phases, based on the Election Commission’s convenience.
The Lok Sabha member also called it a major electoral reform that future generations will remember, as it will help achieve the vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’.
JPC meets with representatives of various parties
The Joint Parliamentary Committee, which also includes Lok Sabha member Sambit Patra among others, met earlier in the day with representatives of various political parties, including Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar, Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra, and former Union Minister Veerappa Moily.
Noting that elections currently take place throughout the year across the country’s states and union territories, Chaudhary said this leads to unnecessary expenditure of taxpayers’ money.
Additionally, the Model Code of Conduct often diverts officials from their regular duties. As a result, important welfare schemes for the poor get delayed, causing inconvenience to the public, he added.
Continuous elections create uncertainty: JPC chief
Continuous elections also create uncertainty, which may make foreign investors hesitant to invest in India, he said, adding that all of this directly or indirectly affects the economy, general administration, and education.
Chaudhary said the committee aims to build consensus among its members to recommend a strong law to Parliament—one that is acceptable to all and beneficial to the country.
He noted that by aligning the remaining state elections, all elections across the country could be synchronised into a single cycle by 2034.
“For example, if a state has an election in 2032, its government’s term would be adjusted to end in 2034 to sync with the national schedule. This will require a constitutional amendment. Maintaining synchronised elections in a democracy is a challenging task,” he said, in a statement.
“To address the possibility of a government falling before completing its tenure due to a no-confidence motion, the committee may suggest adopting the German model (where a new leader is chosen before removing the current one) or the Japanese model (where the leader is elected on the floor of the House),” he added.
On Anti-Defection Law
The Anti-Defection Law would also need to be updated to support this, he further said, adding, “If this shared system is successfully implemented, the country will have a stable framework for the next 100 years.”
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