‘One Nation, One Election’ is India’s need, stresses Modi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday again emphasised the need to introduce the “One Nation, One Election” formula to save time and money of the country.

Reiterating his idea for simultaneous elections across India, Modi said that “One Nation, One Election” is not a mater of debate only, but this is the need for India.

Modi pitched the idea while addressing the concluding session of the 80th All India Presiding Officers Conference via video conferencing in Gujarat’s Kevadia on the occasion of the celebrations of Constitution Day.

Modi suggested that a single voters’ list should be prepared for the Lok Sabha, assembly and panchayat polls, saying that separate lists are a waste of resources.

“Only one voter list should be used for Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and other elections. Why’re we wasting time and money on these lists?” Modi said.

“One Nation, One Election’ isn’t just an issue of deliberation, but also need of the country. It hampers the developmental work and all of you know about it. We must think about it seriously and office-holders can lead deliberations on this.”

“I would urge you to take initiatives to make aspects of our Constitution more popular among our youth and that too, through innovative methods,” said Modi.

Modi has been commited to the idea of “One Nation, One Election” since he first became prime minister in 2014.

As per Modi, “One Nation, One Election” would reduce the cost of holding elections, and limit all elections to a single season as elections happen somewhere or the other almost all the time at present.

Modi had been pressing for holding a constructive dialogue to enable the Election Commission to hold elections simultaneously to bring down expenses. Besides, this will also give governments more free time to implement welfare schemes.

It is oten argued that the Model Code of Conduct gets in the way of the government announcing projects or policy plans for the benefit of the people.