Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advocated all elections to be held simultaneously, pointing out the current method of holding polls every few months hinders development. BJP is pushing hard for "one nation, one election" and it is going to seek consensus on the idea by holding 25 webinars with senior leaders, members of academia and legal fraternity over the coming weeks. The upcoming webinars will be focused on creating awareness about the pros of simultaneous elections.
The concept of conducting simultaneous elections has been close to PM Modi, as he would often advocate it. The current method of holding polls in every few months separately for Lok Sabha, state assembly and local bodies hinders development works across the nation, Modi argued.
Need of the hour
Even while addressing the concluding session of the 80th All India Presiding Officers Conference, PM Modi said "one nation, one election" is the need of the hour.
"Elections are held at different places every few months and the impact it has on development works is known to all. Therefore, it is a must to conduct a deep study and deliberate on 'one nation, one election'," Modi had said.
The government think-tank Niti Aayog had presented a two-phase Lok Sabha and Assembly polls from 2024. In its draft proposal, it had said that polls can be held two cycles every 30 months. The Lok Sabha polls in 14 states could be conducted in one phase and the remaining states could go to polls in the next cycle two-and-a-half years later.
BJP had been mulling on the idea of "one nation, one election" for several years now. Since it was noted that conducting simultaneous elections wouldn't be possible within the existing framework of the Constitution, amendment was recommended to accommodate the new polling system. It remains to be seen how the new proposal will be integrated into the current system.
