New Delhi, Oct 31 — Joint Parliamentary Committee on 'One Nation, One Election' Chairman P.P. Chaudhary on Saturday said that simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies benefit the regional parties rather than being the other way round, adding that a strong Centre can "override" regional parties when elections are held separately.
Chaudhary said that the observation was made by journalist and economist Swaminathan Gurumurthy during a meeting of the JPC on Friday.
The 'One Nation, One Election' Bill aims to synchronise elections for the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies. The Bill has been referred to a 41-member Joint Parliamentary Committee, which is currently deliberating and studying the mechanisms required to successfully conduct simultaneous national and state elections.
In an exclusive interaction with IANS, Chaudhary said: "Under 'One Nation, One Election,' four general elections from 1952 to 1967 were held together. And after that, eight or nine Legislative Assemblies were dissolved prematurely so that elections could be conducted simultaneously."
"This clearly indicates that back then, members of the Constituent Assembly -- some of whom were present at that time -- believed that if we examine the spirit, intent, or object of the Constitution, it points towards 'One Nation, One Election'. So, keeping this in mind, some Legislative Assemblies were dissolved prematurely at that time to hold elections alongside the Lok Sabha," he said.
Regarding the meeting of the JPC on Friday, Chaudhary said: "Eminent political scientists and economists -- such as Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Professor S Mahendra Dev, Professor Pami Dua, and Dr Shamika Ravi, attended yesterday's meeting and shared their insights on both the political and economic aspects of the Bill."
Prof. Mahendra Dev is the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).
Noting that there has been a persistent concern that 'One Nation, One Election' might marginalise regional parties or undermine the federal and basic structure of the Constitution, Chaudhary said: "Their (economists') perspective was that it is rather the other way round; simultaneous elections would actually strengthen and promote regional parties, the federal structure, and the basic constitutional framework."
"They backed this view using the country's electoral history from 1967 onwards. They looked at elections from 1967, 1971, 1977, 1980, 1984, up to 1989—and the 'Coalition Era' from 1989 to 2014, as well as the 2014, 2019, and 2024 elections. They were of the view that when Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were held separately at different time periods, a strong ruling party at the Centre often swept state elections, leading to the marginalisation of regional parties," he added.
Citing India's electoral history, the JPC Chairman further said that whenever elections were held simultaneously, regional parties fared better.
"When elections to the state and Centre are held separately, in case of conflict between strong Centre and regional issues, the nation's electoral history shows that a strong Centre will have an overriding effect," he underlined.
"Therefore, simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies advantage regional parties, strengthen democracy, and are in national interest. This was said by Swaminathan Gurumurthy yesterday and was an eye opener for everybody," Chaudhary added.