Former President Ram Nath Kovind, who heads the government-appointment high-level committee on ‘one nation, one election’, said that holding simultaneous elections would benefit the public and whichever party was in power at the Centre, adding that the funds saved could be used for development work.
Speaking to reporters in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli, Kovind said he spoke to all the national parties and sought their suggestions on simultaneous elections. He asserted that every political party supported it “at some point of time”.
“The Government of India formed a high-level committee and appointed me as its chairman. Members of the committee, together with the people, will give suggestions to the government regarding the re-implementation of this tradition (‘one nation, one election’). I have also communicated with all the nationally registered political parties and sought their suggestions,” he said.
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He added, “We are requesting everyone to give their positive support to us, because this is in the national interest. It does not have anything to do with any particular party. For example, if this is implemented, then the benefit will go to whichever party is in power at the Centre, whether it is the BJP or the Congress or any other political party. There is no discrimination in this. The biggest benefit will be to the general public. The revenue that comes, the savings can be used for development work.”
Kovind’s remarks come at a time when the high-level committee has invited comments from political parties, having met representatives of the Law Commission of India in its second and most-recent meeting, on October 25.
The government had set up an eight-member high-level committee on September 2, headed by Ram Nath Kovind, to examine and make recommendations at the earliest on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.
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It has held two meetings so far – on September 23, and October 25. According to sources, the next meeting is likely to be held in the last week of November, Indian Express reported.
The committee includes Home Minister Amit Shah, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, 15th Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari.
Simultaneous polls were held in 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967. However, following the dissolution of some legislative assemblies in 1968 and 1969 and that of the Lok Sabha in December 1970, elections came to be held at different times after that.