The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on One Nation, One Election (ONOE), chaired by BJP MP P.P. Chaudhary, heard presentations from economists Arvind Panagariya and Surjit Bhalla on Thursday. Both strongly supported holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
Panagariya noted that India currently has 13 elections in a five-year cycle, averaging one every 4.5 months. He said that frequent elections disrupt policymaking, procurement, and reforms, and even delay constitutional bodies like the Finance Commission.
He recalled that in 1957, the Constitution allowed early dissolution of some Assemblies to hold elections with the Lok Sabha. He argued that today’s continuous election cycle would likely have led the framers to support a system like the 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill.
Panagariya added that a once-in-five-years election system provides policy stability, reduces uncertainty, and encourages private investment. He also noted that governments tend to increase spending before elections, which raises fiscal deficits.