ONOE will benefit India immensely: JPC chief

New Delhi: P P Chaudhary, chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE), said the ‘poll model’ would enable elected representatives to focus on governance for their entire five-year term, benefitting the nation immensely. A meeting of the JPC on ONOE was held last week, where all the members displayed a ‘positive attitude’.

The Constitution Amendment Bill on ONOE, currently under review by the JPC, seeks to synchronise Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, streamlining the electoral process. The JPC, chaired by BJP’s P.P. Chaudhary, comprises 39 members, including 27 from the Lok Sabha and 12 from the Rajya Sabha. In a special interaction with IANS, Chaudhary spoke about the sweeping changes that the bill could bring in Indian political landscape and also hoped that Opposition will not oppose the bill, just for the sake of opposing it.

“Today’s meeting is not about strategy formation. It will be more of a presentation and interaction session. Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will also be present, and there will be an interaction with him. Former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Rajendra Menon, will also be there, and we will have discussions with him as well,” he said.

Addressing concerns about logistical challenges, Chaudhary pointed out that from 1952 to 1967, elections were conducted simultaneously across the country despite the absence of modern resources such as EVMs, VVPATs, and advanced technology. “At that time, we didn’t even have the resources we have today,” he said. “There were no EVMs, no VVPAT, and no advanced systems or technology.

Even then, elections were conducted together across the country. Now, we have progressed a lot, and today, India is the third-largest economy in the world. So, we can say that it is not impossible for us,” he added.

“Our official witnesses from the Election Commission, and IT ministries, we will call them and those related to technology, and they will tell us how it can be done simultaneously.

In today’s time, in this technological age, it is not a difficult task to gather all the election resources at once,” he further mentioned.