Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave her opinion about One Nation – One Poll

Over the past few months, the topic “One Nation – One Poll” (ONOP) has undergone much debate; recently, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also gave her captivating opinions about ONOP through an interviewed conducted by News18. She argued that all consultations concerning the above proposal are over, and that the general public fully supports the initiative to synchronize elections. Sitharaman stressed the fact that the India spends much of its money to conduct elections at various levels and the ONOP could ensure the expenses are cut down considerably. She went through interview answering not only the financial issues but also the administrative and developmental aspects which might be the result of this shift.

An appreciation in perspective of One Nation, One Poll

The policy of ‘One Nation. One Poll’ means that all the general elections, assembly elections as well as the local body elections should be conducted at once across India. Many people, however, have debated this idea for many years and the current push from the current administration has put it into high profile. According to Sitharaman, India currently spends an exorbitant amount of resources to conduct elections at multiple levels: Be it the national parliamentary election or the state assembly and local panchayat elections.

Whenever an election is called, a huge electoral system is put is operation, comprising of security agencies, poll workers and the commission. Apart from the organizational issues associated with separate elections, there is need to understand that they necessarily entail huge financial costs. Sitharaman’s main counter was that such recurrent expenses could be lumped together, thus the load on the public till would be protracted greatly. The provision of conducting elections for all the governmental bodies at once to be held every five years will make the usage of the resources much more effective and the process of voting much smoother.

Economic Implication of Too Many Elections

Among the most obvious advantages of ONOP one should consider the extraordinary concern of legal expenses caused by numerous elections. The process of democratic tradition in India is expensive as the process requires a lot of state resources every time an election comes up. Sitharaman raised concern on the fact that many months budgets meant for developmental and welfare purpose are used in funding elections. Such expenses are associated with establishment of the polling booths and hiring security forces,administrative measures.

It could be debated that in country like India which has more than 1. 4 billion and this aspect has far reaching financial consequences. In his argument, the Finance Minister pointed out that such repetitive costs could be avoided if the country was able to establish relations that would make elections coincide so that more important developmental factors could be considered. The argument used by her corresponds with data the reports and studies that indicate the proposed navrashte holder together, costing thousands of crores.

Having discussed above the development of ADR techniques and the key boost to their popularity from the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct it would be pertinent to examine some of the disruptions in development occasioned by the enforcement of the same.
Apart from financial concerns, Sitharaman stressed another critical issue: that can lead to the disruption of development activities. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is followed during the election periods were the election Commission bars the government from announcing new projects or implementing policies that may have impact on the voters. This stoppage in governance can range from weeks to even months especially where the elections are conducted over an extended period.

Sitharaman also questioned the frequent use of MCC by saying that it hinders efficient governance in India. It emerged that developmental projects, public welfare schemes, and administrative decisions are either slow down or not initiated during the election periods. This not only slows down key endeavours but also has an impact on the economy. In the case of ONOP, MCC would be imposed only once in five years enabling unintermittent governing and faster pace of policy and scheme enactment.

Public sentiment and political will

in the interview Sitharaman stressed that consultations with the public and stakeholders revealed widespread support for ONOP. According to her, the general feeling is that citizens are becoming increasingly frustrated with the frequency of elections and related disruptions. This reflects public sentiment that elections are necessary but should not impede the country’s progress.

Despite broad public consensus regarding the benefits of ONOP, concerns remain about the political feasibility of such important reform. One of the biggest challenges is coordination between the current tenure of the various Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Because the election cycles for different state assemblies differ, it is necessary to extend or shorten the terms of office of some governments to achieve harmonization. A decision that may face opposition from political parties…

Additionally, many argue that concurrent elections can reduce the accountability of elected representatives. under the current system Deadlocked elections allow voters to hold politicians to varying degrees of accountability. of the government regularly ONOP’s critics say it could falter if survey results remain small.

Move forward with ONOP

Although the Finance Minister’s comments highlighted the economic and development benefits of ONOP, the path to implementation remains complex. A constitutional amendment is needed. and requires cooperation from all political parties and state governments. Despite these obstacles Sitharaman also seemed optimistic about the potential of the proposal. Noting that the government is committed to finding ways to make the SEPO a reality.

She concluded the interview by reaffirming the government’s position.