The high level committee (HLC) on one nation one election led by former president Ram Nath Kovind chaired its fourth meeting on Saturday and discussed why majority of the political parties have opposed the idea and how government could save money if polls are harmonised, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
“12 political parties have opposed the idea of simultaneous elections and 10 are in favour,” a member of the HLC told HT.
Opposition parties including the Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI(M), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had shot off letters to the High level committee secretary Niten Chandra and opposed the idea of simultaneous elections.
“We are going to consult with all the parties who are not in favour of the idea and in the upcoming week we are going to understand from them why they are not in favour of one nation one election,” the member added who requested anonymity.
The member even raised that NK Singh, former chairman, 15th finance commission, explained in the meeting how gross domestic product (GDP) would be affected if simultaneous polls are implied.
“A presentation was made before the committee based on the research paper ’Macroeconomic Impact of harmonising Electoral Cycles, Evidences from India’. Co-authored by NK Singh and Prachi Mishra, which indicated that simultaneous elections would precipitate higher economic growth, and result in more government investment on expenditure on capital and revenue,” the member said.
{{/usCountry}}“A presentation was made before the committee based on the research paper ’Macroeconomic Impact of harmonising Electoral Cycles, Evidences from India’. Co-authored by NK Singh and Prachi Mishra, which indicated that simultaneous elections would precipitate higher economic growth, and result in more government investment on expenditure on capital and revenue,” the member said.
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