Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary on Friday made a big claim in front of the media about ‘One Nation, One Election’. The BJP leader on Friday said that there will be ‘One nation, one election’ in the country in 2029.
Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh vouched for simultaneous elections at a public meeting in Ranchi in Jharkhand. While addressing the BJP workers meeting, Rajnath Singh advised the Congress to not protest against One Nation One Election only for ‘the sake of it’. He also sought suggestions from the grand old party on the same.
“Former President Ramnath Kovind has submitted a report related to the One Nation One Election. And Congress has started making noise over it. They should not protest for the sake of protesting. If they have to give any suggestions, then they should come forward. Holding elections simultaneously will save time,” ANI quoted the defence minister.
His statement came a day after a high-level committee on simultaneous elections submitted its report on Thursday. The committee was constituted under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, met President Murmu and submitted its report. The report, comprising 18,626 pages, is the outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts, and research work over 191 days, since the constitution of the High-Level Committee on September 2, 2023.
The committee was briefed that intermittent elections impact economic growth, quality of public expenditure, and educational and other outcomes, in an adverse manner.
In September last year, the central government constituted a high-level Committee to examine the issue of ‘One Nation, One Election’ and sought recommendations from the committee for holding elections in the country.
While rejecting the concept, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that there is no place for the idea of simultaneous elections in a parliamentary system of government.
