<p>Nirmala Sitharaman<o:p></o:p></p>

CHENNAI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will witness a rise of 1.5% if ‘One Nation, One Election’ is implemented.
Speaking at a seminar on ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) in Chennai, the minister said, “If simultaneous polls are held, our GDP will see a rise by Rs 4.5 lakh crore. Our GDP will witness an increase of 1.5%. Only if our economy is strong, people irrespective of their communities will grow. This is the black and white example to show people who are blindly opposing it.”
Referring to the expenditure incurred for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sitharaman said, “It is estimated that the total expenditure for 2024 Lok Sabha elections was Rs 1 lakh crore. If polls are held simultaneously, we can save Rs 12,000 crore which can be spent for the welfare of the people.”
She said apart from financial resources, human resources are also wasted in case of frequent polls. “For the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 10 lakh armed personnel were pitched in for poll duty apart from 25 lakh poll officers for 12 lakh polling booths. Their regular work gets affected due to frequent polls. Also, the model code of conduct (MCC) will be in place for at least three months in case of an election and in that period developmental work could not be undertaken,” she said.
Citing the examples of Karnataka, Kerala and northeastern states, the Sitharaman said, “Simultaneous elections will result in an increase in polling percentage. For instance, when simultaneous polls were held in Karnataka in 1999 and in Kerala in 1977, polling percentage saw a hike. Similarly, in northeastern states, the polling percentage saw a hike by 21% when elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies were held simultaneously.”
Recalling the previous stand of INC and NCP, Sitharaman said, “In 2015, when E M Sudarsana Nachiappan of Indian National Congress (INC) was the chairman of the parliament standing committee, he supported the implementation of simultaneous elections in a phased manner. Even NCP-SP president Sharad Pawar wrote a letter to Union food and consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi in 2019 saying ONOE was a good idea. Even former TN CM M Karunanidhi in his autobiography supported ONOE but his son and TN CM M K Stalin differs from his father’s ideas. Looking at the background of those who are opposing ONOE now, they supported it once.”
The Union finance minister said some of the TN parties supported ONOE. “In a high-level meeting held for simultaneous polls, in which 47 parties participated, 32 of them including AIADMK, PMK, and Tamil Manila Congress supported. Out of the 15 parties that opposed, DMK, MDMK, VCK, AAP, SP, and CPM opposed it.”
She clarified that ONOE would not be implemented immediately. “All those parties who are opposing simultaneous polls should understand that Indian President (Droupadi Murmu) will commence the process for simultaneous polls only after 2029 and it will be implemented only in 2034. Meanwhile, the tenure of all the state legislatures will be aligned along with the tenure of the Lok Sabha and polls will be held simultaneously in 2034.”
Former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, speaking in the seminar, compared simultaneous polls with family planning and said, “Frequent baby deliveries affect the health of mothers. Similarly, frequent elections will affect the economic health of our country. The country has faced more than 400 elections since independence, and it will result in policy paralysis.”